CELEBS 8 @newsofbahrain OP-ED The strange persistent ... · Palestinian Prez to change government...

Mixed emotions in Germany as €500 note bows outFrankfurt

As the European Central Bank (ECB) takes the final step in phasing out the €500 note, few are expected

to mourn a bill favoured by criminals but rarely seen in daily life.

Except perhaps in cash-loving Germany.From Sunday, central banks in 17 of the

19 eurozone countries will stop issuing the violet-coloured banknotes.

Only the German and Austrian central banks are clinging on a while longer, until April 26, to “ensure a smooth tran-sition,” the European Central Bank said

in a statement.Medical technician Rolf, from the Ger-

man town of Marburg, said he found the demise of the single currency’s highest-de-

nomination note “hard to accept.”Standing a stone’s throw from Frank-

furt’s blue-and-yellow euro sculpture after a meeting in the city, the 61-year-old said

he had made a point of paying for his car in €500s.

“I prefer using cash for large payments, it doesn’t mean I’m involved in anything dodgy,” Rolf said, declining to give his last name.

The ECB decision to end the note’s issu-ance will lead to fewer and fewer circulat-ing as commercial banks gradually return them to their countries’ central banks, where they will be replaced by lower-de-nomination bills.

But anyone hoarding €500s under their mattress needn’t worry, as all existing bills remain legal tender.

02 ‘Shop Bahrain’ a big hit

03Leading energy conference puts spotlight on building green cities

04 Leading the digital drive

8

Pressure on Maduro with opposition amnesty offer6WORLD

OP-EDC E L E B S

MJ’s nephew slams ‘Leaving Neverland’, calling it one-sidedLate American singer Michael Jackson’s family is speaking out against the recently released docu-mentary ‘Leaving Never-land’ which premiered at the Sundance Film Festival on Friday. P14

MONDAYJANUARY 2019

200 FILS ISSUE NO. 8005

The strange persistent troubling Russian hang-up of Donald Trump

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End violence call UN envoy condemns settler violence after Palestinian killed

• Nikolay Mladenov called on Israel to ‘put an end to settler violence and bring those responsible to justice’.

• Over 400,000 settlers live in the West Bank, which Israel seized in the 1967 war.

Jerusalem

The UN’s Mideast envoy is calling the death of a Palestinian in West Bank

clashes with Israeli settlers “shocking and unacceptable.”

Nikolay Mladenov yesterday called on Israel to “put an end to

settler violence and bring those responsible to justice.”

Hamdi Naasan, 38, was killed Saturday near the village of Al Mughayyir, close to Ramallah. The Palestinians say settlers shot him.

The settlers say a Jewish man was stabbed by Palestinians and they fired in the air while chasing away the attackers.

The Israeli police and military have launched investigations.

The violence came days after Israel charged a Jewish teenager with manslaughter in the death of a Palestinian woman in the West Bank.

Over 400,000 settlers live in the West Bank, which Israel seized in the 1967 war.

In another development, a group of Jewish settlers attacked and injured Palestinians near the Ibrahimi Mosque in Hebron (Al Khalil), in the southern occupied West Bank.

I prefer using cash for large payments, it doesn’t mean I’m

involved in anything dodgy.

ROLF

Israeli forces detain a protester during a demonstration against the newly-opened Route 4370 in the occupied West Bank.

400,000settlers live in the West

Bank, which Israel seized in the 1967 war.

Julphar mouthwash ordered off shelves TDT | Manama

A popular ant isept ic mouthwash has been

found to contain harmful impurities, prompting its immediate withdrawal.

The Health Ministry or-dered government and pri-vate hospitals, doctors to remove Zordyl Mouthwash, which is manufactured by Gulf Pharmaceutical Indus-tries, Julphar, from their shelves.

The decision to withdraw the product follows a sim-ilar decision by the Saudi Food and Drug Authority (SFDA).

Meanwhile the company tweeted: “We are commit-ted to meeting the high-est standards of safety and quality and to providing consumers with safe, effec-tive and quality products.”

Palestinian Prez to change governmentRamallah

Palestinian officials say President Mahmoud

Abbas has decided to shake up his government.

The move is the latest sign of failure in more than a decade of attempts to rec-oncile with the rival Hamas movement.

At least 20 people have been killed and 81 injured after two bombs exploded at a Catholic cathedral in the Philippines. The first bomb went off in or near the church in Jolo during Sunday mass. This was followed by a second blast outside the building as government forces responded to the attack. The explosions tore away the entrance to the cathedral and ripped through the main hall, shredding pews. Bahrain yesterday condemned the blast. The Ministry of Foreign Affairs “expressed its deep condolences to the families of the victims, wishing those injured a speedy recovery”. See Page 5

Blast horror

02MONDAY, JANUARY 28, 2019

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‘Shop Bahrain’ a big hit Shopping festival aims to revitalise the tourism and retail sectors

• The fifth edition witnessed a huge participation comprising more than 20 shopping malls across Bahrain.

TDT | Manama

The shopping malls partic-ipating in the fifth edition of the Bahrain Shopping

Festival – ‘Shop Bahrain’ contin-ue to host a wide range of activ-

ities and events until February 2nd, 2019.

The nationwide festival aims to revitalise the tourism and retail sectors by providing a unique shopping experience.

The fifth edition witnessed a huge participation comprising more than 20 shopping malls across Bahrain.

A line up of activities, includ-ing entertainment shows, walk-abouts, musical performances and competitions are organised

to provide shoppers with the opportunity to experience the vibrant atmosphere and win valuable prizes.

Among the participating malls this year are Moda Mall, Seef Mall - Seef District, Mu-harraq and Isa Town, Bahrain Mall, Dragon City, Saar Mall, The Avenues, Al Aali Shopping Complex, Enma Mall, City Cen-tre Bahrain, El Mercado, Gal-leria, The Courtyard, Bab Al Bahrain Mall, Gold City, IKEA,

as well as the Platinum Spon-sor Lulu Hypermarket in Hidd, Riffa Ramli Mall, Juffair Mall, Dana Mall and Janabiyah, and Zinj.

“Participating malls offer an extensive schedule of fun-filled activities and events for visitors of all ages, aiming to increase the footfall in malls during the festival Festival which is held until the 2nd of Febru-ary, besides the Festival City, Shop Bahrain’s main attraction,

which was launched last week at the BIC,” said Head of Tour-ism Relations at the Bahrain Tourism and Exhibitions Au-thority (BTEA), Reem Tawfiqi.

The fifth edition of the festi-val is organised by the BTEA in co-operation with its strategic partners Tamkeen, VIVA Bah-rain and the National Carrier of Bahrain, Gulf Air, as well as Bin Hindi Group, in addition to the Platinum Partners Bin Hindi Informatics and Lulu Group.

Many entertainment shows and performances are being organised at malls as part of the festival.

The induction of the Students Council of Al Noor International School and the swearing in of newly elected members for the academic year 2018-19 was held at a solemn ceremony. School Director Dr Muhammad Mashood, Principal Amin Mohamed Ahmed Hulaiwah, attended the ceremony. Head teachers of all sections of the school and students of selected classes as well attended the ceremony.

Students’ council sworn in

The Indian School Bahrain (ISB) celebrated the 70th Republic Day of India on Saturday at the school campus in Isa Town with gaiety and patriotic fervour. The celebrations commenced with ISB Chairman Prince S Natarajan hoisting the Indian National Flag. Many cultural activities were organised as part of the celebrations.

India Republic Day celebrated

LuLu Hypermarket, Saar, in co-operation with Bahrain Farmers Market, yesterday flagged off the Farmers Market. It was inaugurated by Shaikha Maram bint Isa Al Khalifa, Secretary- General of the National Initiative for Agricultural Development, Kingdom of Bahrain in the presence of British Ambassador to Bahrain Simon Martin, Director of Plant Wealth Directorate Hussain Jawad Al Laith and Lulu Group Director and Board Member, Juzer Rupawala.

Farmers market


Leading energy conference puts spotlight on building green cities

Over 150 participants from the industry and government bodies took part in the event

• Dr Mirza presented a comprehensive overview of the achievements of renewable energy and energy efficiency in Bahrain.

TDT | Manama

Electricity and Water Af-fairs Minister Dr Abdul-hussain Mirza, inaugu-

rated the Third International

Conference on Renewable En-ergy under the theme “Green Cities, Sustainable Buildings and Renewable Energy”.

More than 150 participants from industrial companies and government bodies in Bahrain took part in the conference or-ganised by Kingdom University in cooperation with the Interna-tional Renewable Energy Net-work (WREN).

Dr Mirza presented a com-prehensive overview of the achievements of renewable en-ergy and energy efficiency in Bahrain.

The minister elaborated on the national goals adopted by the government to achieve spe-cific rates of renewable energy and energy efficiency by 2025 and the formation of a national committee in following up and implementing the National Re-newable Energy Plan and the National Plan for Energy Effi-ciency.

It is expected that the imple-

mentation of the two plans will lead to the saving of about BD260 million by 2025.

The minister also spoke about the net metering system, which allows individuals and organi-sations to install solar systems at their homes and facilities at

their expense, to benefit from the energy produced to meet part of their need for electricity consumption, and to pump the surplus of solar energy produc-tion in the government network and get paid for it.

Dr Mirza said that the gov-

ernment has also adopted the green building guide, which sets certain conditions - in addition to the current mandatory condi-tions to make the buildings and facilities green, environmentally friendly and productive.

The Kingdom University or-

ganised the conference, which focused on presenting research and studies on climate change, waste recycling and entrepre-neurship opportunities in sus-tainable energy.

It also highlights challenges and opportunities in the renew-able energy, climate and envi-ronmental conservation fields, which contribute to sustaina-bility, and reviews the impor-tance of building green cities for a better future for the coming generations.

Dr Mirza with other dignitaries and participants at the conference. 260million Bahraini dinars

could be saved by 2025 by implementing renewable

energy plans, according to ministry sources.

The government has also adopted the green building guide, which

sets conditions on buildings and facilities green, environmentally friendly and productive.

DR MIRZA

HRH Princess Sabeeka’s meeting with lawmakers hailed• The bureau stressed that the existing fruitful Shura Council-SCW co-operation has yielded many legislative gains for the Bahraini women, commensurate with the distinguished status enjoyed by them under His Majesty King Hamad bin Isa Al Khalifa’s Reform Project.

Manama

The Shura Council’s Bu-reau convened yesterday, under the chairmanship

of the Shura Council’s Chair-man, Ali Saleh Al Saleh.

The bureau praised the meet-ing of Her Royal Highness Prin-

cess Sabeeka bint Ibrahim Al Khalifa, Wife of HM the King

and President of the Supreme Council for Women (SCW),

with the representatives of the Legislative Branch for the sake of enhancing cooperation and co-ordination with the National Assembly.

The meeting had emphasised on the implementation of the National Model for Integrating Women’s Needs and achieving gender balance while approving the Government Action Plan and the state budget.

The bureau stressed that the existing fruitful Shura Coun-cil-SCW co-operation has yield-ed many legislative gains for the Bahraini women, commensu-rate with the distinguished sta-tus enjoyed by them under His Majesty King Hamad bin Isa Al Khalifa’s Reform Project.

The bureau also discussed other issues on its agenda.

Shura members at the meeting.

BAS buys environment-friendly equipment worth BD1 millionTDT | Manama

Continuing the role of Bahrain Airport Services Company (BAS) in the expansion of Bahrain In-

ternational Airport, and in line with the company’s corporate social responsibil-ity strategy, the BAS has embarked on a gradual transition to the Green Gate in support of the environment.

The gateway is to adopt a mul-ti-pronged approach to reducing its impact on the environment, seeking to make progress in terms including reduced emissions and cleaner air, the use of solar energy, no fuel spills and the use of clean electric power – all combining to form “a more hygienic environment”.

As with all industries worldwide, any opportunities to reduce emissions and protect the environment must be taken up in the best interests of our global state.

In a statement issued to media, Salman Al Mahmeed, CEO said: “BAS

ground support equipment is one area in which significant strides are being made which we would like to reduce

our fleet diesel and petrol-powered towing by 75 per cent by the opening of the new terminal in 2019, and be-

yond over the next five years to see the replacement of all Bahrain Airport Services ’s diesel-fuelled towing tugs, that will require an investment of BD one million.”

The Kingdom has renewed its con-tract with Bahrain Airport Services Company (BAS) as the ground handling service provider for Bahrain Interna-

tional Airport for the next 15 years. The company is working hard to

keep pace with the development of the Bahrain International Airport, which aims to attract 13 million passengers annually.

Established in 1977, Bahrain Airport Services Company (BAS) has a 41 year long track record of continuous ser-vice and has been the sole operator of ground services at Bahrain Interna-tional Airport since it was established as the first international airport in the Arabian Gulf region.

It is also a trusted name in the world of services as a company certified by the Air Transport Safety Audit Pro-gramme of the International Air Trans-port Association.

The BAS offers a number of commer-cial activities including: aircraft and passenger handling services, catering services, aircraft engineering services, BAS Engineering Training Centre (BAE-TC), as well as owning and managing airport lounges.

With new equipment and vehicles, BAS aims to keep pace with BIA expansion.

The Bahrain International Airport, aims to attract 13 million passengers annu-ally within the next few

years.

KNOW

DID


Leading the digital drive UoB conducting skills training programme for students to boost their employability

TDT | ManamaHarpreet Kaur

The University of Bahrain (UoB), one of the Middle East’s largest educational

institutions in co-operation with Google Developers Group Ma-nama is conducting free training programmes for all Bahraini stu-dents with an aim on expanding their horizons by learning new skills.

The premium university en-tered a partnership with the Google Developers Group (GDG) Manama and Start Up Bahrain to roll out a range of free training programmes for students across the country.

The UoB code academy is pro-viding free skills training to any student from any university in Bahrain.

These courses, to be offered via UoB’s newly launched coding academy, are available for stu-dents from any university in the Kingdom and any study back-ground, sources said.

Speaking to Tribune, UoB president Prof Riyad Hamzah said: “We are extremely proud of this initiative. The three-week

programme, which is from basic to intermediate and then to ad-vanced levels has seen the partic-ipation of around 2,000 students.”

“The primary objective of this initiative is to help students fa-miliarise themselves with emerg-ing disruptive technologies such as the Internet of Things (IoT),

machine learning, Data Science, and Web Technologies. This is in line with the Kingdom’s growing emphasis on raising a future gen-eration of a skilled workforce that can take the homegrown digital economy and technology sectors to new highs.

“Students who enrol in these

programmes will receive certifi-cates upon successfully complet-ing the curriculum. Interestingly, UoB has decided to issue these certificates using its proprietary blockchain technology, becom-ing one of the first universities globally to issue digital diplomas anchored in the blockchain.

“The only way forward in delivering the required skilled workforce is to lead the rise in the digital and entrepreneurial ecosystem through collaboration and by thinking big.

“The newly offered courses will benefit students on sever-al fronts by breaking down tra-

ditional learning barriers and encouraging multi-disciplinary learning.

“Moreover, the initiative will pave the way for the development of Bahrain’s creative and innova-tion/technology-driven economy through building digital skills and supporting re-skilling and up-skilling.”

Students undergo training at the university.

The primary objective of this

initiative is to help students

familiarise themselves

with emerging disruptive

technologies. PROF HAMZAH

Academy opens for biking enthusiasts

TDT | ManamaHarpreet Kaur

Biking enthusiasts in the Kingdom now have a new outlet to channel

their passion for motorsports as the motorbike academy opened its doors to the public.

Adiby Racing Academy, founded in 2018 by professional racer Ali Adiby, offers a com-prehensive, three-days-a-week programme to bring novice rid-ers up to professional levels.

Adiby Racing is a premier motorbike racing team which will represent Bahrain in the prestigious national and global Superbike Championships.

Through strategic spon-sorship opportunities, Adiby Racing offers local brands a

platform to connect with audi-ences worldwide and presents international companies access to Middle East audiences.

Adiby Racing’s latest initia-tive is a motorbike racing acad-emy which seeks to train and recruit rides.

Speaking to Tribune, Mr Adiby said: “We are training on mini motorbikes which are less expensive and safer, where we have a future plan to have our academy bigger and attract more people from outside Bah-rain.

“We as an academy will have training during the whole year, where we intend to never stop in order to keep ourselves and our riders developing their skills continuously.”

“As motorbike champion-ships are growing in the Middle

East and having many circuits in GCC, our initiative to open the academy generated.

“Moreover, we are seeking to build more professional riders, plus building strong generation kids from seven years to be fu-ture champions representing Bahrain as the industry is not only growing in Bahrain but also across the GCC.”

“The curriculum is focused on mastering the basics on a mini-bike, which consumes less energy and resources and can be done in a limited space.

“The skills learned translate perfectly onto full-sized bikes, as riders learn vehicle control, balance, and racing techniques. The sessions also include rigor-ous safety training and a spe-cialised fitness regime.”

A group of biking enthusiasts at the academy.

Mohammad Mansoor received Hind Rattan Award from Dr Bibek Debroy, Chairman of the Economic Advisory Council to the Indian Prime Minister in the presence of dignitaries. The award ceremony was held at the 38th International Congress of NRIs on the eve of Republic Day on January 25, 2019. Hind Rattan (Jewel of India) is one of the highest Indian diaspora awards given annually to non-resident persons of Indian origin (NRIs).

Hind Rattan Award

CSB holds workshop for VRS candidates

• Many government entities attended the workshop, and praised CSB’s efforts towards establishing effective exchange of information, which has efficiently transitioned the first batch to retirement.

Manama

The Civil Service Bureau (CSB) held a work-shop for government human resources staff about the process of transitioning the second

batch of the Voluntary Retirement Scheme’s (VRS)

successful candidates to retirement on March 1.During the workshop, the CSB provided a de-

tailed explanation of the process of uploading successful candidates’ information to the online portal ‘Horizon’.

The Director-General of Organisation and Position Budget, Jamal Abdulaziz Al Alawi, noted that the workshop was part of a series of activities held by the CSB aimed at efficiently transitioning all VRS’s successful candidates to retirement.

Many government entities attended the work-shop, and praised CSB’s efforts towards estab-lishing effective exchange of information, which has efficiently transitioned the first batch to retirement.

At least 18 killed in twin bomb attack on Philippine church

First blast in or near church on island of Jolo during Sunday mass is followed by second outside compound

• The door, pews and glass windows of Mount Carmel Cathedral were blown off

• The timing of yesterday’s bombs raised questions on whether the attack was meant to derail the peace process

• The Jolo incident comes after a plebiscite was held to create a new autonomous region covering five provinces

AFP | Jolo, Philippines

At least 18 people were killed yesterday when two bombs hit a Catholic

church on a southern Philippine island that is a stronghold of Islamist militants, the military said, days after voters backed Muslim self-rule in the region.

A powerful first blast shat-tered pews and left bodies strewn inside the cathedral on Muslim-majority Jolo as mass was being celebrated, an army spokesman said.

Just moments later a second explosion outside killed troops who were rushing to help the wounded in the smoking and heavily damaged church.

It is one of the deadliest bomb attacks to strike the insurgen-cy-plagued southern Philippines in years and came amid the hope spurred by voters’ overwhelm-ing approval of a plan to give Muslims more control over their own affairs.

Manila swiftly vowed to hunt down the attackers, but no group has claimed the bombing.

“We will pursue to the ends of the earth the ruthless per-petrators behind this dastardly crime,” presidential spokesman Salvador Panelo said in a state-ment. “The law will give them no mercy.”

Five soldiers, a member of the coast guard and 12 civilians were among the dead while 83 other people were wounded, said re-gional military spokesman Lieu-tenant Colonel Gerry Besana.

The regional police chief Graciano Mi-jares put the toll slightly higher at 20 dead, lower than a figure of 27 he gave earlier.

The second bomb was left in the utility b o x o f a motorcy-cle in the p a r k -ing area

outside the church, a military report said.

Authorities said the notorious Abu Sayyaf kidnap-for-ransom group could be behind the blasts.

“When you talk about terror-ism in Sulu, the primary sus-pect is always the (Abu Sayyaf ) but we are not discounting the possibility that there are other perpetra-tors,”

Besana told AFP. The remote island of Jolo is

a base of the Abu Sayyaf, which is blamed for deadly bombings, including an attack on a ferry in Manila Bay in 2004 that claimed 116 lives in the country’s deadli-est terror assault.

Peace spoilers? The Abu Sayyaf is a loose net-

work of militants formed in the 1990s with seed money from Osama bin Laden’s Al-Qaeda network, and has earned mil-lions of dollars from banditry and kidnappings-for-ransom, often targeting foreigners.

It is among armed networks based in the strife-torn re-gion of Mindanao, some of whose members have pledged allegiance to the Islamic State group.

Jolo also lies in the Bangsamoro Mus-lim-majority autono-mous region, which lo-cal voters overwhelm-

ingly backed last week.

The approval, which sealed a peace deal with the nation’s larg-est Muslim rebel group Moro Islamic Liberation Front, raised hopes for peace after decades of fighting killed some 150,000.

Sulu province -- which in-cludes Jolo -- voted against the creation of the new region, with its governor filing a petition in the Supreme Court to prevent its formation.

Despite Sulu’s vote, the prov-ince is legally required to join Bangsamoro because voters from across the current auton-omous region voted in favour of it on the whole.

Yesterday’s bombing follows a New Year’s eve

blast in the s o u t h e r n

Philippine c i t y

of

Cotabato killed two people and wounded 35 others.

The timing of yesterday’s bombs raised questions on whether the attack was meant to derail the peace process.

Mujiv Hataman, a re-gional leader in the Phil-ippines south, said the blasts highlighted the urgency of imple-menting the peace law.

“ I h o p e t h e ( l a w ) is im-

plemented well so it could be a solution to stop the spread of terrorism,” Hataman told AFP.

National Security Adviser Hermogenes Esperon said “ex-

tremist criminals” plotted the bombings.

“We will not allow them to spoil the pref-

erence of the people for peace,” Esperon said. “Peace must prevail over war.”

05

world

MONDAY, JANUARY 28, 2019

KNOW WHAT

Yesterday’s bomb-ing follows a New Year’s eve blast in the southern

Philippine city of Cotabato killed two people and wound-

ed 35 others

Soldiers in front of a Catholic Church where two bombs exploded in Jolo

Debris inside a Catholic Church where two bombs exploded in Jolo, Sulu province on the southern island of Mindanao

UK’s Prince Philip apologises to woman injured in car crash AFP | London

Britain’s Prince Philip has said he is “deeply sorry”

about the injury suffered by a woman in a car crash he was involved in over a week ago, according to a report in the Sunday Mirror.

The newspaper published a copy of a letter written by the 97-year-old royal to Emma Fairweather, who broke her wrist when the Kia she was in collided with the prince’s Land Rover.

“I would like you to know how very sorry I am for my part in the accident... I can only imagine that I failed to see the car coming, and I am very contrite about the con-sequences,” said the letter, signed by Philip in blue pen.

The crash, which left the prince’s vehicle on its side, happened as he pulled out of a side road onto a busy main road near the royal country residence in Norfolk, eastern England.

Philip was uninjured in the

January 17 accident, while the driver of the Kia sustained cuts to the knee.

Fairweather, a passenger in the Kia, had complained to the Sunday Mirror last weekend that she had not received an apology from the prince.

“I was somewhat shaken after the accident, but I was greatly relieved that none of you were seriously injured,” said Philip in the letter dated January 21, according to this Sunday’s report.

Pressure on Maduro with opposition amnesty offerInternational pressure is growing on Nicolas Maduro after National Assembly head Juan Guaido

declared himself acting presidentAFP | Caracas, Venezuela

Bolstered by growing in-ternational support, Ven-ezuela’s self-proclaimed

president Juan Guaido is in-creasing pressure on the rule of Nicolas Maduro by calling for new elections and street pro-tests, and offering amnesty to members of the military who defect.

The first major military of-ficer to publicly switch his sup-port to Guaido was Venezuela’s military attache in Washington, Army Colonel Jose Luis Silva.

In a video posted online Sat-urday Silva urged “my brothers in the national armed forces” to recognize Guaido “as the only legitimate president,” in accordance with Venezuela’s constitution.

He said the constitution does not allow the military “to attack our equals, our brothers... Don’t forget comrade commander, captain, everyone in a command position -- we cannot nor should we attack the people.”

Guaido, who has galvanized a previously divided opposition, is offering an amnesty to anyone in the military who disavows Ma-duro, even suggesting amnesty for Maduro himself.

At a Caracas rally the 35-year-old opposition leader said he will announce a date for “a grand march” for change, and called on supporters to distribute yester-day print and electronic copies of amnesty measures approved by the opposition-controlled National Assembly, which he has headed since January 5.

Some 26 people have been killed and more than 350 people have been detained in clashes

this week between anti-Maduro activists and security forces, UN High Commissioner for Human Rights Michelle Bachelet said Friday.

Guaido’s support grows The United States on Satur-

day pressed all nations to “stand with the forces of freedom” in Venezuela, encouraged by a tougher European line on Ma-duro. Russia however backed the embattled Venezuelan pres-ident.

At a special UN Security Coun-cil session US Secretary of State Mike Pompeo described Ma-duro as part of an “illegitimate mafia state” responsible for Ven-ezuela’s economic collapse.

Pompeo asked that all nations

recognize Guaido as Venezuela’s interim president, and urged them to end financial transac-tions with Maduro’s govern-ment, which has struggled to pay bills despite the country’s oil wealth.

Pompeo denounced Russia and China, which have stood by Maduro, saying that they were “propping up a failed regime in the hopes of recovering billions of dollars in ill-considered in-vestments and assistance made over the years”.

Russia denounced the United States for interference.

“Venezuela does not pose any threat to peace and security. The intention of the United States is to orchestrate a coup d’etat,” said Russia’s UN ambassador

Vassily Nebenzia.

Europeans set deadline President Donald Trump’s

recognition of Guaido has been supported by many Latin Amer-ican powers including Brazil, Colombia and Argentina -- but not all.

European powers on Saturday warned that they will recog-nize Guaido unless Maduro calls elections within eight days.

“If within eight days there are no fair, free and transparent elections called in Venezuela, Spain will recognize Juan Guai-do as Venezuelan president” so that he himself can call the vote, said Spanish Prime Minister Pe-dro Sanchez.

Britain, France, and Germany followed, with French President Emmanuel Macron tweeting: “The Venezuelan people must be able to freely decide on their future.”

The 28-member European Union however is not united, with Greece’s ruling left-wing Syriza party voicing “full sup-port and solidarity” for Maduro.

Venezuelan Foreign Minister Jorge Arreaza rejected the ul-timatum.

“From where do you get the power to issue deadlines or ulti-matums to a sovereign people?” he told the Security Council.

Maduro’s reelection last year was considered illegitimate by the opposition, and rejected by the United States, the EU and the UN as a sham.

Up to now however Maduro has retained the loyalty of the powerful military.

Both Guaido and Maduro have called for demonstrations next week, raising fears of further violence.

Maduro earlier gave US diplo-mats until late Saturday to leave Venezuela.


Maduro’s reelection last year was con-

sidered illegitimate by the opposition,

and rejected by the United States, the EU and the UN as a

sham

KNOW WHAT

Venezuelan opposition supporters holding up letters reading “Justice” gather to listen to the head of Venezuela’s National Assembly and the country’s self-proclaimed “acting president” Juan Guaido

Pope winds up World Youth Day events in Panama with giant mass

AFP | Panama City

Pope Francis winds up a global gathering of young

Catholics yesterday with a giant open-air mass for hundreds of thousands of pilgrims before leaving Panama.

The pope, who on Saturday admitted the Church had been “wounded” by a deepening cler-gy sex abuse crisis, will cele-brate the second open-air mass of his visit at a park on the out-skirts of Panama City.

After mass, scheduled for ear-ly in the morning to avoid high temperatures, the 82-year-old pope will meet young people living with AIDS and HIV at the Good Samaritan home in the city.

Francis will thank hundreds of World Youth Day volunteers at a stadium in the afternoon before a farewell ceremony and a flight back to Rome.

The pope acknowledged Saturday that the Church was

“wounded by sin” in a homily addressed to priests and sem-inarians reeling from sexual abuse scandals and coverups.

Church ‘wounded by sin’ Celebrating mass at the land-

mark Cathedral of Santa Ma-ria La Antigua in Panama City, Francis warned of the “weari-ness of hope that comes from seeing a Church wounded by sin, which has so often failed to hear all those cries.”

At a lunch meeting with 10 young pilgrims, Francis said sex abuse by the clergy was “a hor-rible crime,” according to one of the guests.

Later, at a massive vigil that the organizers said drew 600,000 pilgrims, the pope called on young people to reject the temptation to live their lives online and urged them to get involved in their communities.

Life was not “in the cloud, waiting to be downloaded, a new app to be discovered, or a technique of mental self-im-provement,” the pontiff said during his grandfatherly dis-course.

The Argentine pope has used his encounter with young peo-ple in Central America to speak out repeatedly in defense of mi-grants, and address other prob-lems affecting the region such as poverty, drug trafficking, vi-olence and what he said was a regional “plague” of murders of women.

Pope Francis (R) presides over an evening vigil with young people at the Campo San Juan Pablo II in Panama City

Sudan’s Bashir visits Egypt to meet SisiAFP | Cairo

Sudanese President Omar al-Bashir arrived yester-

day in Cairo for talks with his Egyptian counterpart Abdel Fattah al-Sisi, airport sources said, as deadly pro-tests rock his country.

Bashir’s visit to Cairo is his second trip abroad since the demonstrations erupted in Sudan last month against worsening economic hard-ships before mushrooming into calls for an end to his three decades in power.

Sisi and Bashir were ex-pected to hold a joint news conference later, the Egyp-tian presidency said in a statement.

Bashir’s trip comes as the Sudanese Professionals Association that is leading the campaign against his government called for sit-ins yesterday across several districts of the capital Khar-toum and its twin city of Omdurman, across the Nile.

The SPA, an umbrella group of doctors, teach-ers and engineers, has also called for daily simultane-ous demonstrations nation-wide until Wednesday.

It had urged protesters to stage night-time rallies on Saturday,

But witnesses said there were no major protests and only small groups of demon-strators gathered in Khar-toum and Omdurman.

Sudan has been rocked by protests since December 19 after a government decision to triple the price of bread.

The rallies swiftly swelled into nationwide calls for an end to Bashir’s three dec-ades in power, as protest-ers clashed with security forces.

Officials say 30 people have died in the violence, while rights groups say more than 40 people have been killed including med-ics and children.

Egypt’s Foreign Minister Sameh Shoukry voiced sup-port for Sudan’s embattled government during a visit to Khartoum in December.

I would like you to know how very sorry

I am for my part in the accident... I can only imagine that I failed to see the car

coming, and I am very contrite about the consequences

PRINCE PHILIP

Cambodia’s bid to be ‘New Macau’ stirs old wounds as Chinese cash in

Chinese investment is transforming Cambodia’s Preah Sihanouk province into a gambling playground for mainland tourists

• Cambodia’s love affair with China has meant a sizeable cash injection for the once-impoverished Southeast Asian country

• Real estate prices in Sihanoukville have skyrocketed in the past two years

• Swathes of new development make it harder to settle old land disputes in a country where wealth and influence trump the rule of law

AFP | Sihanoukville, Cambodia

A businessman leaves a smoky room $1,500 poor-er from a game of Bacca-

rat at a casino in Sihanoukville -- an increasingly common scene in the Cambodian beachtown as it becomes a honeypot for Chinese gamblers and investors at a pace worrying marginalised locals.

“It’s not so bad if I lost to-night,” said Dong Qiang, adding: “I will try my luck tomorrow.”

The coastal capital of Preah Sihanouk province -- named after Cambodia’s revered late king -- was once a sleepy fish-ing community before being claimed f irst by Western

backpackers, and then wealthy

Russians.Today it is Chinese investment

that is transforming the prov-ince -- into a sizeable gambling playground for mainland tour-ists.

“Some gamblers lose hun-dreds of dollars in less than 20 minutes,” an employee from a casino told AFP, requesting an-onymity.

Casinos are banned in China, although the enclave of Macau -- often dubbed the “Las Vegas of Asia” -- has special laws allow-ing a massive gambling trade.

But Sihanoukville is becoming a popular alternative. There are around 50 Chinese-owned ca-sinos and dozens of hotel com-plexes under construction.

Around 30 percent of Sihan-oukville’s population are now Chinese, according to the pro-vincial governor, who said this number ballooned in the past two years.

At the Oriental Pearl Casino, business is brisk. Ten Chinese men sit

silently while their cards are shuffled across the green felt table, chain-smoking under the neon glare from a nearby bank of “50 Dragons” slot machines.

But while millions of dollars change hands on the casino floors, insiders say the big mon-ey is made in “secret rooms” hosting online gambling sites.

China’s largesse Cambodia’s love affair with

its communist neighbour has meant a sizeable cash injec-tion for the once-impoverished Southeast Asian country. Bil-lions have flowed into its econo-my but with few questions asked about China’s abysmal rights record.

Preah Sihanouk’s governor said $1 billion has been invest-ed by Chinese government and private businesses between 2016 and 2018.

And China’s largesse is none more apparent than in Sihan-oukville, a nexus of Beijing’s “One Belt, One Road” infrastruc-

ture plan, which includes a planned highway to Cam-bodia’s capital Phnom

Penh.C h i n a h a s a l s o s o u g h t

high-profile military exchang-es, fuelling speculation that it wants to build a naval base off the Cambodian coast in Koh Kong province, north of Siha-noukville, with ready access to the flashpoint South China Sea.

Cambodian Prime Minister Hun Sen vehemently denied the port-building claims, despite the recent docking of three hulk-ing Chinese warships at Sihan-oukville’s port.

He also returned from a recent trip to Beijing with the promise of $588 million in aid and an increase in bilateral trade to $10 billion by 2023.

Price hikes Real estate prices in the town

have skyrocketed in the past two years, increasing from $500 per square metre to five times that for homes close to the sea, real estate firm CBRE told AFP.

The provincial governor de-scribes Chinese money as “a dia-mond and golden chance for all”.

“They bring money to invest because they see our potential,”

Yun Min said.Yet swathes of new develop-

ment make it harder to settle old disputes over ownership in a kingdom where land has been commandeered by prominent, government-connected tycoons and wealth and influence trump the rule of law.

“The huge Chinese investment in Preah Sihanouk province has no benefits for the poor,” said Sun Sophat, a representative of the Spean Chheah communi-ty, which has camped out on a roadside refusing to be moved from lands they say have been sold from under them by a local tycoon.

“The benefits go only to the wealthy and the powerful.”

Boeun Kang, who has lived on the road next to the disputed land for 11 years, said her de-sire is simple -- to own a 20x30 metre plot of land, which she is willing to die for.

“We don’t know when they will take this land, but we are all ready,” she told AFP. “We are ready to

die here.”Some local shops and restau-

rants grumble that they have been forced to close while Chi-nese-owned ones now stud prime spots, and NGOs say large hotels and resorts pump out un-controllable amounts of sewage and rubbish.

Governor Yun Min said on balance things have improved for locals thanks to the Chinese imprint.

Income has doubled from $1,700 a year in 2015.

But he conceded that the money, casinos and a surging population had also brought trouble.

The Interior Ministry last year assigned a taskforce to handle the influx of people and a rise in some crimes -- such as kidnappings, extortion and prostitution.

“The situation is under con-trol,” said Yun Min.

He added: “These (problems) exist but after we are done with (the development), it will be

clean and we will get a lot more benefits from

it.”


Real estate prices in the town have sky-

rocketed in the past two years, increasing

from $500 per square metre to five times that for homes

close to the sea

KNOW WHAT

Chinese man walking at a public square with building construction seen in the background in Sihanoukville

Labourers working at a building construction site in Sihanoukville

Roadside settlement of Spean Chheah community members after their forced eviction from a disputed land in Sihanoukville


C I V I L I A N ’ S T R I B U N E

Hon. Chairman Najeb Yacob Alhamer | Editor-in-Chief Mahmood AI Mahmood | Deputy Editor-in-Chief Ahdeya Ahmed | Chairman & Managing Editor P Unnikrishnan | Advertisement: Update Media W.L.L | Tel: 38444692, Email: [email protected] | Newsroom: Tel: 38444680, Email: [email protected] & circulation: Tel: 38444698/17579877 | Email:[email protected] | Website: www.newsofbahrain.com | Printed and published by Al Ayam Publishing

ROGER COHEN

So President Donald Trump’s main concern at the border with Mexico is the sup-

posed discovery of “prayer rugs.” Trump came into office as an

anti-Muslim bigot; he is still an anti-Muslim bigot. In fact, he remains himself in every aspect, his miserable pettiness imper-vious to any glimmer of uplift through his office.

I will ignore the hermetic sealing of Trump’s personality against decency, and resist the temptation to riff on Abraham Lincoln’s brooding portrait in the White House dining room above the buffoon in chief with his burgers, to ask a simple ques-tion: If Trump is a Russian asset, what would he be working to achieve?

The central thrust of Russian foreign policy under President Vladimir Putin is the dismantle-ment of NATO. Putin seeks this in order to sever the trans-Atlantic bond between European powers and the United States that se-cured Western Europe against the Soviet Red Army, and still embodies the shared defence of democracy and freedom.

Tick that Russian box. Trump holds NATO in contempt, has discussed a US withdrawal from it, and works to undermine it.

Let’s face it: Things are spi-ralling downward. If they were not, Jeanine Pirro of Fox News would not have asked Trump: “Are you now or have you ever worked for Russia?”

As I write, Trump has just tweeted “AMERICA FIRST!” He tweeted “MAKE AMERICA GREAT AGAIN!” Out of nowhere, as if he’s on some autopilot!

The president is way over his skis. As Eric Trump observed a few years ago: “We don’t rely on American banks. We have all the

funding we need out of Russia.”Just think, Trump might have

lost to Hillary Clinton, gotten to build the Trump Tower in Moscow, and kept lying and swindling in some backstage office rather than centre-stage, exposed under the lights.

But back to Russian interests: Putin also pursues the unrav-eling of the European Union because the 28-nation bloc has made European nations stronger, wealthier and more stable. Russia backs far-right politicians, like Marine Le Pen in France, who oppose European integration. A splintered Europe is more vulnerable to Moscow.

Tick that box, too. Trump has described the European Union as “brutal,” called it a “foe,” spo-

ken in favour of British with-drawal from it, and downgraded the EU ambassador’s status in Washington.

In short, the president has shown disdain for an organisa-tion that has furthered Ameri-can interests. Safeguarding the stability and security of Europe was the greatest single American strategic challenge from 1945 to 1990. The EU was a foundation of this effort that ended with the establishment of a Europe whole and free.

Like every “enemy of the peo-ple” in the press, like every poor schmuck who ever worked for this guy, like any American pa-triot who wants to respect the

president, I’ve struggled to find a redeeming feature in Donald Trump. I can now report: There is none.

But I must return to Russia again. Just because Trump fur-thers Russian designs does not mean he’s in Russia’s employ. Of course it does not. I want to be clear about that. Just because you assist Russia does not means you’re an asset of Russia even if you assist Russia from the Oval Office.

Putin, who has described the collapse of the Soviet Union as “the greatest geopolitical ca-tastrophe” of the last century, seeks the collapse in the 21st century of the American qua-

si-imperium that has provided the organising structure of the free world. The Russian presi-dent favours a retreating Unit-ed States that has abandoned its values, granting open season to autocrats — an America for which human rights, a rules-based international order, the rule of law itself, and the dignity of the free citizen in a democra-cy have been nullified.

Again, Trump is working in sync with Putin. Tick another box. There is not a despot on the face of the earth who fears Don-ald Trump’s United States. From Beijing to Budapest, authori-tarianism and illiberalism have been given a boost by Trump as alternative models to liberal democracy.

The president’s principal emotion in the face of dictators is envy. He is a would-be King Ubu for whom self-aggrandise-ment never self-aggrandises quite enough.

None of this proves that Trump is a Russian asset, any more than his encouraging Russia to hack Clinton’s emails in 2016; or the firing of James Comey as FBI director and later of Attorney General Jeff Sessions; or con-cealing his conversations with Putin from senior officials; or his cringe-worthy Putin adulation in Helsinki; or his defence of the Soviet invasion of Afghani-stan; or his handing Syria on a plate to Russia; or, if BuzzFeed has it right, his instructing his longtime lawyer Michael Cohen to lie to Congress about negotia-tions to build that Trump Tower in Moscow.

I don’t know what Trump’s Russian hang-up is, but Trump has one. Somehow, he’s com-promised. It’s not a necessary condition for impeachment that he be a Russian asset. Cohen’s expected testimony to Congress on Feb 7 is a more gripping pros-pect by the day.

(Roger Cohen is a columnist with The New York Times.)

(In collaboration with New York Times)

LIGHTEN UP, JUST ENJOY LIFE, SMILE MORE, LAUGH MORE, AND DON’T GET SO WORKED UP ABOUT THINGS. KENNETH BRANAGH

QUOTE OF THE DAY


Trump remains himself in every aspect, his miserable pettiness impervious to any glimmer of uplift through his office

Cohen’s expected testimony to Congress on Feb 7 is a

more gripping prospect by the day.

Trump is wrong, absolutely

In Syria, the US presence has al-ways paled in comparison to that of its “enemies”, the Syrian gov-

ernment, Hezbollah, Iran and Rus-sia. But it also provided tactical and logistical support to the fellow NATO member, Turkey, who now have to go it alone in the face of all those and the Kurdish and Gulenists eager to unseat Ankara.

The Turks have not only taken in the majority of the refugees and treated them with the humanity they deserve, they have also secured the northern area of Syria, and now have to provide for their own security and the millions who have taken refuge in the area through negotiating and unilateral establishment and protection of the buffer zone.

The US has never made right in Syr-ia, led by former President Obama’s inaction when faced with the horrible violation of the red line. Obviously, Mr Trump is more guided by his own interests than those of his nation, and believed he would get some sort of public moral victory in bringing back the troops before Christmas after get-ting annihilated in the 2018 elections.

Reality quickly set in, and obvious-ly the withdrawal did not go as he hoped. His time in office is ending no matter all the distractions, with the Mueller probe nearing closure, the house readying investigative action, likely impeachment, and a very sore defeat of his Great Wall government closure, where the only winners were essentially no one.

In all cases, the government of Bashar Al Assad is one all humanity must oppose, as it has lost the right to govern by virtue of denying its own people their humanity. And walking away while blindfolding themselves makes the US just as complicit as the direct supporters of their merciless war crimes.

Omar Haydar


C I V I L I A N ’ S T R I B U N E


ROGER COHEN

So President Donald Trump’s main concern at the border with Mexico is the sup-

posed discovery of “prayer rugs.” Trump came into office as an

anti-Muslim bigot; he is still an anti-Muslim bigot. In fact, he remains himself in every aspect, his miserable pettiness imper-vious to any glimmer of uplift through his office.

I will ignore the hermetic sealing of Trump’s personality against decency, and resist the temptation to riff on Abraham Lincoln’s brooding portrait in the White House dining room above the buffoon in chief with his burgers, to ask a simple ques-tion: If Trump is a Russian asset, what would he be working to achieve?

The central thrust of Russian foreign policy under President Vladimir Putin is the dismantle-ment of NATO. Putin seeks this in order to sever the trans-Atlantic bond between European powers and the United States that se-cured Western Europe against the Soviet Red Army, and still embodies the shared defence of democracy and freedom.

Tick that Russian box. Trump holds NATO in contempt, has discussed a US withdrawal from it, and works to undermine it.

Let’s face it: Things are spi-ralling downward. If they were not, Jeanine Pirro of Fox News would not have asked Trump: “Are you now or have you ever worked for Russia?”

As I write, Trump has just tweeted “AMERICA FIRST!” He tweeted “MAKE AMERICA GREAT AGAIN!” Out of nowhere, as if he’s on some autopilot!

The president is way over his skis. As Eric Trump observed a few years ago: “We don’t rely on American banks. We have all the

funding we need out of Russia.”Just think, Trump might have

lost to Hillary Clinton, gotten to build the Trump Tower in Moscow, and kept lying and swindling in some backstage office rather than centre-stage, exposed under the lights.

But back to Russian interests: Putin also pursues the unrav-eling of the European Union because the 28-nation bloc has made European nations stronger, wealthier and more stable. Russia backs far-right politicians, like Marine Le Pen in France, who oppose European integration. A splintered Europe is more vulnerable to Moscow.

Tick that box, too. Trump has described the European Union as “brutal,” called it a “foe,” spo-

ken in favour of British with-drawal from it, and downgraded the EU ambassador’s status in Washington.

In short, the president has shown disdain for an organisa-tion that has furthered Ameri-can interests. Safeguarding the stability and security of Europe was the greatest single American strategic challenge from 1945 to 1990. The EU was a foundation of this effort that ended with the establishment of a Europe whole and free.

Like every “enemy of the peo-ple” in the press, like every poor schmuck who ever worked for this guy, like any American pa-triot who wants to respect the

president, I’ve struggled to find a redeeming feature in Donald Trump. I can now report: There is none.

But I must return to Russia again. Just because Trump fur-thers Russian designs does not mean he’s in Russia’s employ. Of course it does not. I want to be clear about that. Just because you assist Russia does not means you’re an asset of Russia even if you assist Russia from the Oval Office.

Putin, who has described the collapse of the Soviet Union as “the greatest geopolitical ca-tastrophe” of the last century, seeks the collapse in the 21st century of the American qua-

si-imperium that has provided the organising structure of the free world. The Russian presi-dent favours a retreating Unit-ed States that has abandoned its values, granting open season to autocrats — an America for which human rights, a rules-based international order, the rule of law itself, and the dignity of the free citizen in a democra-cy have been nullified.

Again, Trump is working in sync with Putin. Tick another box. There is not a despot on the face of the earth who fears Don-ald Trump’s United States. From Beijing to Budapest, authori-tarianism and illiberalism have been given a boost by Trump as alternative models to liberal democracy.

The president’s principal emotion in the face of dictators is envy. He is a would-be King Ubu for whom self-aggrandise-ment never self-aggrandises quite enough.

None of this proves that Trump is a Russian asset, any more than his encouraging Russia to hack Clinton’s emails in 2016; or the firing of James Comey as FBI director and later of Attorney General Jeff Sessions; or con-cealing his conversations with Putin from senior officials; or his cringe-worthy Putin adulation in Helsinki; or his defence of the Soviet invasion of Afghani-stan; or his handing Syria on a plate to Russia; or, if BuzzFeed has it right, his instructing his longtime lawyer Michael Cohen to lie to Congress about negotia-tions to build that Trump Tower in Moscow.

I don’t know what Trump’s Russian hang-up is, but Trump has one. Somehow, he’s com-promised. It’s not a necessary condition for impeachment that he be a Russian asset. Cohen’s expected testimony to Congress on Feb 7 is a more gripping pros-pect by the day.

(Roger Cohen is a columnist with The New York Times.)

(In collaboration with New York Times)

LIGHTEN UP, JUST ENJOY LIFE, SMILE MORE, LAUGH MORE, AND DON’T GET SO WORKED UP ABOUT THINGS. KENNETH BRANAGH

QUOTE OF THE DAY


Trump remains himself in every aspect, his miserable pettiness impervious to any glimmer of uplift through his office

Cohen’s expected testimony to Congress on Feb 7 is a

more gripping prospect by the day.

Trump is wrong, absolutely

In Syria, the US presence has al-ways paled in comparison to that of its “enemies”, the Syrian gov-

ernment, Hezbollah, Iran and Rus-sia. But it also provided tactical and logistical support to the fellow NATO member, Turkey, who now have to go it alone in the face of all those and the Kurdish and Gulenists eager to unseat Ankara.

The Turks have not only taken in the majority of the refugees and treated them with the humanity they deserve, they have also secured the northern area of Syria, and now have to provide for their own security and the millions who have taken refuge in the area through negotiating and unilateral establishment and protection of the buffer zone.

The US has never made right in Syr-ia, led by former President Obama’s inaction when faced with the horrible violation of the red line. Obviously, Mr Trump is more guided by his own interests than those of his nation, and believed he would get some sort of public moral victory in bringing back the troops before Christmas after get-ting annihilated in the 2018 elections.

Reality quickly set in, and obvious-ly the withdrawal did not go as he hoped. His time in office is ending no matter all the distractions, with the Mueller probe nearing closure, the house readying investigative action, likely impeachment, and a very sore defeat of his Great Wall government closure, where the only winners were essentially no one.

In all cases, the government of Bashar Al Assad is one all humanity must oppose, as it has lost the right to govern by virtue of denying its own people their humanity. And walking away while blindfolding themselves makes the US just as complicit as the direct supporters of their merciless war crimes.

Omar Haydar


TOP

4TWEETS

04

02

03

01

We invite you to cov-er our press con-

ference “The Anatomy of India’s Biggest Finan-cial Scam” at 3:00 Pm on Tuesday, January 29, at Press Club of India, 1 Raisina Road,110001. The scam is around ₹33,000 crores. Our Editor shall address the media follow-ing a Panel Discussion.

@cobrapost

Taunted for not be-ing able to give birth

to a child Vriksha Mata Saalumarada Thimmak-ka started to plant banyan trees in lieu of children ..106 year old Vriksha Mata has planted 8000 trees. She has conferred with Padma Shri this year.

@indiantweeter

Jens Stoltenberg, NATO Secretary General, just

stated that because of me NATO has been able to raise far more money than ever before from its mem-bers after many years of decline. It’s called burden sharing. Also, more united. Dems & Fake News like to portray the opposite!

@realDonaldTrump

The @TXsecofstate discovered approx

95,000 individuals iden-tified by DPS as non-U.S. citizens have a matching voter registration record in TX, approx 58,000 of whom have voted in TX elections. Any illegal vote deprives Americans of their voice.

@KenPaxtonTX

Disclaimer: (Views expressed by columnists are personal and need not necessarily reflect our

editorial stances)

1813Jane Austen’s Pride and Prej-udice is first published in the United Kingdom.

1846The Battle of Aliwal, India, is won by British troops com-manded by Sir Harry Smith.

1851Northwestern University becomes the first chartered university in Illinois.

1855A locomotive on the Panama Canal Railway runs from the Atlantic Ocean to the Pacific Ocean for the first time.

TODAY DAY IN

HISTORY

A country humming with violence

In Poland, hateful

language is ubiquitous.

It’s consequences can be deadly

OLGA TOKARCZUK

In Gdansk, psychologists have been called in to help the public. Such is the great

shock following the murder on Jan 13 — on live prime-time tel-evision with millions watching — of the city’s mayor, Pawel Ad-amowicz.

The 27-year-old man accused of killing the mayor was released from prison a few months ago. He had planned every detail of the telegenic attack: After stab-bing the mayor in the heart, he shouted into a microphone that he had killed Adamowicz to get revenge against Civic Platform, the centrist opposition political party that he alleged unjustly put him in jail.

On Jan 20, tens of thousands of people took to the streets of Gdansk to say goodbye to their mayor; spontaneous gatherings took place in other Polish cities. Much of Poland seemed, for once, united — in shock and mourning.

To understand the whole situ-ation, you have to know the con-text. Adamowicz was killed at the Great Orchestra of Christmas, which for the past 27 years has been held just after the holidays. The Orchestra, the country’s larg-est charity event, collects money for Polish hospitals. In the days before, the streets fill with the red hearts people receive in exchange for their donations, and Poles be-come kind to one another.

But few events have also re-ceived so much hate. The Or-chestra’s critics, most of them on the right, don’t approve of its style — slightly anarchist, evi-dently leftist — and don’t like the music it plays, for these benefits are also great concerts. The crit-icism has intensified in recent years, particularly after the vic-tory of the right-wing nationalist Law and Justice party in the 2015 parliamentary election. One jour-nalist wrote not long ago that the Orchestra’s leader was propagat-ing evil; right-wing news media have described him as a “slimy dwarf” and a puppet in the hands of corrupt politicians.

And yet, for an overwhelming majority of Poles, the Orchestra has been a symbol of the Poland we have struggled to build since the 1990s with jejune but hope-ful capitalism, of the Poland that joined NATO, of the Poland that voted in favour of joining the Eu-ropean Union. The Orchestra is a symbol of the three decades of civilisational change, and our country’s advances toward a bet-ter, more peaceful, prosperous and free world. The Orchestra has also become a sign of mutu-al respect and generosity, even if for just one day a year. It has enabled Poles — a gloomy people on the whole — to warm them-selves at the fire of community. I would have nothing against the Orchestra declaring itself a na-tion unto itself; I would happily become a citizen.

Adamowicz, a modern con-servative and an excellent local official, represented everything that Law and Justice is not. Though he was a traditionalist,

he opposed parochialism with an openness of heart and mind. He also had a rare courage and social sensitivity. For instance, along with a few other mayors, he went against the policy of the national government, invited im-migrants into his city and pledged to provide them with support, work and housing. His murder represents an attack on the vision of a liberal, progressive Poland.

One might wonder what mo-tivated Adamowicz’s killer. Offi-cials have described him as men-tally disturbed, but no act occurs in a vacuum.

State television, from which a significant number of Poles get their news, consistently smears, in aggressive and defamatory lan-guage, the political opposition and anyone who thinks differ-ently from the ruling party. The murdered mayor had been called a thief, a German, a homophile and a mafioso. Furthermore, tel-evision propaganda has repudiat-ed the justice system for the past three years, calling it harmful for

citizens, in need of a complete changing of the guard; judges are accused of being a caste above the law. From his jail cell, this man would have seen precisely these messages, of bad guys and the necessity of radical solutions.

The news in Poland today feels like a new kind of monster, a Frankenstein’s monster that has gotten out of control online and mutated into hate speech that can then be found everywhere else. Open your email, and you’ll see: “You’re a piece of trash, and you will die.” “We know where you live.” “We’re going to cut off that stupid head.” The internet hums with violence.

The body reacts to verbal ag-gression with reflexes. It curls up into a little ball and starts to sweat, adrenaline pumping. If this happens to many people at once, then we are in a mental war, where instead of bullets, words are fired. I believe abso-lutely that words must be treated as material weapons, every in-vective or threat as violence and aggression.

Unfortunately, as hate speech has proliferated, no one in Poland has been held responsible. The police take people’s statements and dismiss them. This tacit con-sent has demoralised weakened minds. Hate speech has seeped into public discourse and the process of lowering standards has become increasingly visible: elected officials publicly avow conspiracy theories; members of parliament post diatribes filled with hate, knowing that the more brutality and emotion there is in a tweet, the wider it will circulate.

Populists use language that is

more aggressive and more hate-filled. They reach for scapegoats. In Poland, these scapegoats are the so-called crazy leftists, queer-lovers, Germans, Jews, Eu-ropean Union puppets, feminists, liberals and anyone who supports immigrants.

Add to this the silence and cyn-icism of the clergy, the clumsy, aggressive propaganda of state television, the consent of the po-lice to anti-Semitic excesses, pub-lic demonstrations dehumanising “enemies of the nation,” the den-igration of the authority of the judiciary and the unforgivable destruction of the environment, and we have a suffocating atmos-phere of hate, a highly emotional stalemate in which there can only be traitors and heroes.

In a healthy, normal society, people can disagree with one an-other, even have diametrically opposing views, and this does not at all mean that they must hate one another. The Polish authori-ties, however, have made the di-vision of Poles their primary task.

Aggression is in the air in Po-land. The emotions unleashed by the escalation of the language of political debate may easily pass over into action, and then this aggression gets directed at a spe-cific object. One misguided soul is all it takes. The cord, pulled to the limit of tension, snaps at its most sensitive spot.

I worry about our immediate future. Will we go back to the way things were before this sense-less death, or will it sober us up somehow?

(Olga Tokarczuk is a novelist, essayist and screenwriter, and the author of

“Flights,” among other books.)

Will we go back to the way things were before this

senseless death, or will it sober us up somehow?

10

business


Al Dur closes $1.3bn refinancing facility

20 banks participate in the new award winning facilityTDT | Manama

Al Dur Power & Water Company announced yesterday the successful

closure of a USD 1.3 billion refi-nancing facility provided by a syndicate of 20 banks including local, regional and international banks.

A celebration was held on the occasion in the presence of Shaikh Mohammed bin Khal-ifa Al Khalifa, the Minister of Oil, Cecile Longe, the French Ambassadress to Bahrain, a rep-resentative from the German Ambassador to Bahrain and rep-resentatives from the Company, shareholders, financing banks and other key stakeholders.

The refinancing facilities ex-tend up to 14 years and include USD 450 million of conventional facilities and USD 850 million of Islamic facilities.

The new financing replaces the one originally provided in 2009, which amounted to USD 1.6 billion.

“This is another landmark achievement for 2018 in Bah-rain,” said Shafic Ali, Chairman of Al Dur.

Al Dur accounts for one-third of the country’s power and wa-ter production with a combined capacity of 1,234 MW of power and 48 MIGD of water.

The right to develop, finance and operate the project was awarded in 2008 by the Elec-tricity and Water Authority (EWA) of Bahrain to a consor-tium consisting of Engie and Gulf Investment Corporation. Other shareholders including the Social Security Organisa-tion, Bahrain Islamic Bank, Capital Management House, First Energy Bank, and Bunya Infrastructure Fund joined in 2009. The Company benefits from a 25-year power and water purchase agreement entered into with EWA.

Commercial operations start-ed in early 2012 and the plant

was officially inaugurated in April 2012 by His Majesty King Hamad bin Isa Al Khalifa and the Prime Minister HRH Prince Khalifa bin Salman Al Khalifa.

The original financing won the “2009 Deal of the Year Award” from Project Finance magazine and praise from var-ious sources for being the first project finance deal to close af-ter the onslaught of the 2008 fi-nancial crisis. Similarly, the new financing has also won an award as the “2018 Refinancing Deal of the Year”. This is an award that Al Dur shares with its sister company Al Ezzel Power Com-pany, which also undertook a

successful refinancing in 2018 and is owned by Engie, Gulf In-vestment Corporation and the Social Insurance Organisation.

“This was a challenging trans-action implemented in a vola-tile market environment,” said Cedric Girod, Head of Acquisi-tions, Investments and Finan-cial Advisory at ENGIE Middle East, South & Central Asia and Turkey. “This success demon-strates the strong support of Bahrain, Saudi and regional and international banks for a strategic asset of the Bahrain economy and for its lead spon-sors ENGIE and Gulf Investment Corporation.”

Offficials of Al Dur pose for a photo

LuLu Hypermarket celebrates Indian Republic Day

TDT | Manama

Lulu Hypermarket yesterday celebrated India’s Republic

Day with cultural activities at Dana Mall in the presence of Indian Ambassador Alok Ku-mar Sinha who inaugurated the ceremony.

Highlight of this year’s event was a pop-up ‘Little India’ style bazaar offering a glimpse into the astonishing world of Indian crafts, jewellery, clothing and regional cuisines.

Promotions were available on a wide range of goods.

Beatz of Bahrain with their vibrant Indian beats made the mood more celebratory as on state Bollywood dance perfor-mance made the mood more vibrant.

Lulu Hypermarket’s fashion-able range of sarees was show-cased by ladies of the global online Saree Speak group.

Little kids had their own spotlight. A special fashion show was held in which LuLu’s

ethnic festive children’s wear was displayed on the catwalk.

“We are delighted to be a part of the community’s patriotic celebrations,” said LuLu Group Director, Juzer Rupawala, “With the huge range of Indian products in our aisles and also a elegant fashion line from India that is everybody’s favourite, we believe that our custom-ers, both Indian and from oth-er communities enjoyed this colourful display of all things Indian.”

Indian Ambassador Alok Kumar Sinha cuts a cake during LuLu Hypermarket’s Indian Republic Day celebrations

Alba names Asia Pacific Sales Manager

TDT | Manama

Al u m i n i u m Ba h ra i n (Alba) has named En-

och Kwok Yee Lok as its Asia Pacific sales manager, effective 15 January 2019.

Enoch joined Alba in 2012 as the Sales Officer – Asia and was promoted to Head of Sales - Asia in 2015. In 2017, he was appointed as Acting Sales Manager - Asia in 2017.

Commenting, Alba’s Chief Executive Officer Tim Murray said: “I congratulate Enoch on his new position in Alba. His experience in the aluminium industry, in particular in Asia Pacific, will play an integral role in boosting our growth strate-gy as Alba continues to gain momentum with the Line 6 Expansion Project.”

Alba’s new Sales Manager Asia Pacific - Enoch Kwok Yee Lok

Mastercard says plans to apply for China license Reuters | Shanghai

U.S. payment s card company Mastercard

Inc said on Friday it still plans to apply for a bank-card clearing license in China and was in “active discussions” to explore solutions.

The CSB holds workshop for VRS candidates TDT | Manama

The Civil Service Bureau (CSB) held a workshop

for government human resources staff about the process of transitioning the second batch of the Volun-tary Retirement Scheme’s (VRS) successful candidates to retirement on March 1st.

During the workshop, the CSB provided a detailed ex-planation of the process of uploading successful can-didates’ information to the online portal ‘Horizon’.

The Director-General of Organization and Position Budget, Jamal Abdulaziz Al-Alawi, noted that today’s workshop is part of a se-ries of workshops held by the CSB aimed at efficiently transitioning all VRS’s suc-cessful candidates to retire-ment.

Many government enti-ties attended today’s work-shop, and praised CSB’s efforts towards establish-ing effective exchange of information, which has effi-ciently transitioned the first batch to retirement.

Zuckerberg to integrate apps Reuters | Washington

Facebook Inc Chief Exec-utive Mark Zuckerberg

is planning to unify the un-derlying messaging infra-structure of the WhatsApp, Instagram and Facebook Messenger services and in-corporate end-to-end en-cryption into these apps, the New York Times reported on Friday.

GPIC President Dr Abdulrahman Jawahery along with Labour Union Chairman and Senior Officials presenting a certificate and an award to Tawfeeq Salman from the Information Technology and Knowledge Department, who has been named the Employee of the Month for September 2018. Tawfeeq joined the Company in 1994 and is a Senior Support Administrator in the Information Technology and Knowledge Department

The Minister of Industry, Commerce and Tourism Zayed R. Alzayani receiving US Ambassador to Bahrain Justin Siberell in the presence of Undersecretary of Commerce Affairs Nader Al Moayyed and Assistant Undersecretary of Foreign Trade Eman Aldoseri. During the meeting, they reviewed bilateral relations between Bahrain and the United States of America, expressing Kingdom’s welcome on all steps undertaken by both governments. The Minister stressed the great role played by the private sector in both countries to take advantage of FTA and expand bilateral cooperation in all fields

Berliners see red over Karl Marx Allee sale

Karl Marx Allee, the former East German government’s showpiece of Stalinist-style buildings, is a front line in a battle against Berlin’s gentrification

• Residents of Berlin’s Karl Marx Allee are fearful of rent hikes after 700 flats were offloaded by the property management firm to another company

• The dispute centred on the Karl Marx Allee apartments has culminated in what essentially is their re-nationalisation

AFP | Berlin

Karl Marx Allee was the former East German government’s showpiece

-- a wide boulevard lined with Stalinist-style buildings housing the comrades. Today, the ave-nue is a front line in the battle against rampant gentrification in Berlin.

A plan by a property man-agement firm to offload 700 apartments on the boulevard to another company has raised the ire of tenants, who fear it could lead to rent hikes.

A fight that erupted in No-vember last year has culminat-

ed in what essentially is the re-nationalisation of the

apartments -- ending a

trend of privati-sation

o f

social housing and bringing the ownership of the blocks back to their socialist origins.

The emblematic struggle has also sparked a debate in the Ger-man capital on whether author-ities should be allowed to take the radical step of requisitioning apartment buildings.

Berlin’s mayor Michael Mu-eller said the fight against prop-erty speculation was only be-ginning and that the city would look to reclaim more apartments from private hands following the Karl Marx Allee example.

“ T h a t m e a n s t h a t p r i v a t i s a -tion, which has turned out to be

a mess, will be h a l t e d a n d a p a r t m e n t s

w i l l o n c e

again be the responsibility of Berlin city, through public hous-ing administrators,” said Anja Kaehler, a tenant at Karl Marx Allee.

Steep cost But the move to re-nationalise

the Karl Marx Allee buildings will come at a steep cost to the state, with estimates ranging at between 90 and 100 million euros ($100-115 million).

Critics also charge that it will violate the principle of protection for private property rights.

N e v e r t h e l e s s , some tenants’

r i g h t s a c -tivists

want to push authorities to go further, with a drive under way for a referendum allowing the government to requisition properties from big companies that own more than 3,000 apart-ments in the capital.

If initiators of the proposed referendum petition manage to collect 170,000 signatures by April, Berliners would get to vote on the issue.

Like in cities worldwide, property prices in Berlin have shot up as it has shed its Cold War divided past to establish its political might, and become a tourism and party hotspot as well as an investment magnet.

Although there are still huge swathes of unbuilt land and new construction mushrooming across the city, many low-in-come locals are increasingly getting priced out of the market.

The jump in property prices is all the more evident in places like Karl Marx Allee, which geo -graphically sits close to the centre of a uni-fied Berlin.

A broad 90-me-tre (300-foot) wide boulevard lined with seven to nine-sto-rey massive blocks in the classical s o c i a l i s t style of t h e

1950s, Karl Marx Allee was built by the GDR communist govern-ment to “impress the world” and “intimidate its own workers”.

Some in reunified Germany find the visual reminder of the communist years depressing, but many who call the street their home would not give it up for the world.

“What makes our Karl Marx Allee special is the architecture. We can imagine that we’re in Moscow or Warsaw,” said Ruth Notowicz, standing on her bal-cony overlooking the avenue that tanks rolled down during celebratory military parades.

Running 2.6 ki lometres through the heart of east Ber-lin, the buildings lining the boulevard were also known as “wedding cake-style workers’ palaces” for their decorative flourishes.

‘Housing security’ Anja Kaehler, who has lived

in one of the blocks for 15 years, noted that, in the GDR era, resi-dents from “factory workers to managers” lived next to each other in the flats.

“I also came from East Germa-ny, and in these buildings, I see something of what was positive about the regime -- housing se-curity at a low price,” said Kae-hler, also a tenant representative.

After reunification in 1990, the flats which were once owned by the communist state were entrusted to local authorities, who subsequently embarked on the path of partial privati-sation from 1993.

Although the 700 apart-ments in question were in private hands, rents held at around 10 euros a square metre -- the lower bracket of current market prices.

But in November, ten-ants were informed that property owner Predac was selling the apartments in three blocks to real

e s t a t e con-

sortium Deutsche Wohnen.The news sparked an out-

cry, with tenants fearing that Deutsche Wohnen, which owns 115,000 flats across Berlin and its surrounding regions, could significantly raise rents.

Residents, lawyers and pol-iticians leapt into action, and managed to force a court order for a temporary halt to the sale as tenants mulled using their first right to buy under Berlin property rules.

In an ironic nod to history, a sufficient quorum of tenants called for a re-nationalisation of the buildings.

For the residents, their fight is not about “Ostalgie” -- a word play blending the German for nostalgia and the former East Germany.

“Most tenants never knew the regime and they are the ones who are mobilised, they woke up through the communal

action,” Notowicz said.


What makes our Karl Marx Allee special is the architecture.

We can imagine that we’re in Moscow or

WarsawRUTH NOTOWICZ

KNOW WHAT

Running 2.6 kilo-metres through the heart of east

Berlin, the buildings lining the boulevard were also known as “wedding cake-style

workers’ palaces” for their decorative

flourishes

A poster with the crossed-out word “Sale” against the sale of rental apartments to Deutsche Wohnen SE is hanging on a building facade in Karl-Marx-Allee

The monumental Karl-Marx Allee avenue in Berlin with the twin towers of the Frankfurter Tor and the landmark TV tower

MENA ‘Fintech for Sustainability Hackathon’ on way

TDT | Manama

Bahrain Fintech Bay will host the first “Fintech for Sus-

tainability Hackathon” in the MENA Region in partnership with BENEFIT and The Mana-ma Hub of the Global Shapers Community.

The month-long hackathon will start in February open to all university students in Bahrain.

The joint initiative will gather multidisciplinary students from local universities, to participate in the first Fintech for Sustaina-bility in the MENA region, with the goal of promoting Bahrain’s ecosystem within the fintech in-dustry by giving students the ex-posure and opportunities within the financial industry.

The programme will be run-

ning for four weeks, where in-dustry experts will provide ed-ucational sessions on the United Nation’s Sustainable Develop-ment Goals (SDGs), the financial technology “fintech” industry trends, and the opportunities for connecting the industry to

sustainability in the context of Bahrain.

Prizes will include intern-ship opportunities for students which could lead to working opportunities. Industry part-ners will also provide weekly mentorship and workshops for the participants to learn directly from industry experts who will

be hosting workshops. The Manama Hub will con-

duct a multi-day roadshow, visiting all universities across Bahrain to encourage passion-ate students to sign up for the Hackathon and showcase their innovations.

50 participants will have 6 hours to come up with innova-tive solutions under the Fintech theme for sustainability where 3 winners will be selected based on their final presentation.

“We are happy to collaborate with Benefit and Bahrain Fin-Tech Bay on developing inno-vative solutions to tackle world problems by using financial technology as an enabler,” stated Nada Darwish, Curator, Mana-ma Hub of the Global Shapers Community

Egypt’s EGX30 rises, most Gulf markets firmReuters | Dubai

Gu l f m a r ke t s c l o s e d mainly higher yesterday thanks to strong finan-

cials, while Egypt’s blue-chip index rose sharply, helping it catch up with gains in other emerging markets.

“Egypt is finally catching up with the risk-off trade emerging markets are witnessing,” said Mohammed al-Hajj, senior macro strategy analyst at EFG Hermes, noting that the index was up around 6 per cent year-to-date compared with around 7pc for other emerging markets.

“There are also local drivers for the move such as the con-tinuation of positive macro fig-ures and falling T-bill yields,” he added.

Saudi Arabia’s index was up 0.9pc lifted by strong financials as Saudi Investment Bank rose 8.7pc and Arab Bank rose 3.2pc.

Telecom operator Zain Saudi Arabia was also up 5.0pc.

Both United Arab Emirates markets closed on a high, with Dubai’s index up 0.9pc and Abu Dhabi’s index up 1.0pc.

Dubai’s top bank Emirates NBD rose 2.0pc, and Emaar Malls rose 1.9pc.

Abu Dhabi’s Union National

Bank gained 6.1pc and devel-oper Aldar Properties was up 2.6pc.

Qatar’s index lost 0.4pc, weighed down by the indus-trial sector as Industries Qatar slipped another 1.8pc and Qatar Fuel Co fell 0.8pc.

Kuwait’s market lost 1.2pc, dragged lower by the per-formance of Kuwait Finance House which was down 3.2pc. The bank recently announced a

$7 million deal to acquire Ahli United Bank, which was up 0.9pc.

“The Kuwait market was un-der pressure post the announce-ment for Kuwait Finance House and Ahli United Bank merger which was not very favoura-ble for KFH,” said Sanat Sachar, equity research analyst at Al Mal Capital. “This led to strong profit taking in the name which pulled the whole market down.”


This will help promote more awareness and innovation in

Bahrain’s FinTech ecosystem

KHALID SAAD

CEO OF BAHRAIN FINTECH BAY

Closing BellSAUDI 0.9pc » 8,509

DUBAI 1.0% » 2,540

QATAR 0.4% » 10,668

ABU DHABI 0.03% » 5,021

EGYPT 2.3% » 13,817

KUWAIT 1.2% » 5,426

OMAN 0.3% » 4,166

BAHRAIN 1.2% » 1,391

The opening bell is seen in this general view of the trading floor at the Egyptian stock exchange building in central Cairo

The senior executives of Solidarity Bahrain, one of the largest insurance companies in Bahrain and a subsidiary of Solidarity Group Holding, sign an agreement with Tata Consultancy Services (TCS), a leading IT services, consulting, and business solutions, to deploy TCS BaNCS core insurance system as its core platform for digital transformation

Khalid Saad, CEO of Bahrain Fintech Bay

Saudi chemical giant profit drops in Q4, rises in 2018AFP | Riyadh

Saudi petrochemicals giant SABIC said yesterday its net

profit in the fourth quarter dropped due to lower sales prices but rose for 2018 as a whole.

SABIC, the largest listed firm in the kingdom, said in a state-ment that its net profit in the final quarter of last year fell 12.4 per cent to 3.24 billion riyals ($864 million) from $987m in the corresponding period of 2017.

It attributed the fall to lower selling prices of its products and to a drop in the results of its associates and joint ven-tures.

But SABIC profit for the whole of 2018 rose 17pc on overall higher prices and an increase in sales, the company said.

SABIC, which is among the top 10 global petrochemicals manufacturers in the world, posted a net profit of 21.54bn riyals ($5.74bn) in 2018 com-pared to $4.91bn in the previ-ous year.

Oil prices rose gradually for most of 2018 but dropped sharply by 40pc in the fourth quarter due to oversupply fears before recovering par-tially.

Total revenues of the com-pany, in which the government holds a 70-percent stake, rose 12.9pc to $45.1bn last year compared to $39.9bn in 2017, according to the statement.

Saudi national oil company Aramco is in preliminary talks to buy the government’s stake in SABIC, in order to diversi-fy its own portfolio, in a deal which would be worth over $70bn.

SKAL International Bahrain Club hosted a dinner at La Pergola by Giancarlo Perbellini in the Gulf Hotel in appreciation to Fuad Kazerooni and Abdulla Abokhamseen for their support and contribution to the Club’s success development during their tenure as Board Members. In picture, Club President Mohamed Buzizi, Fuad Kazerooni, Abdulla Abokhamseen and the rest of the Board Members

Abu Dhabi awards Eni, OMV key stakes in oil refiner

AFP | Abu Dhabi

Abu Dhabi’s state oil firm said yesterday it had

signed partnership deals worth $5.8 billion with Italian oil giant Eni and Austria’s OMV, awarding them key stakes in its refining arm.

Under the agreements, Eni will own 20 per cent and OMV 15pc of the Abu Dhabi National Oil Co’s ADNOC Refining, with the state firm keeping the re-maining 65pc.

The firm also announced the formation of a joint venture between the three companies to sell refined oil products on international markets, ADNOC said in a statement.

The deal values ADNOC Re-fining, which has a capacity of 922,000 barrels per day, at $19.3 billion, it said.

A signing ceremony in UAE

capital Abu Dhabi was at-tended by Abu Dhabi’s Crown Prince Sheikh Mohammed bin Zayed, Italy’s Prime Minister Giuseppe Conte and Hartwig Loger, Austria’s finance min-ister.

“These innovative part-nerships will support our ambition of becoming an international downstream leader with the flexibility to respond quickly to shifting market needs and dynamics,” ADNOC’s CEO Sultan al-Jaber said.

The deal is expected to be finalised in the third quarter of this year after securing reg-ulatory approvals, with imple-mentation commencing the following year.

Eni chief Claudio Descalzi said the transaction boosts the form’s global refining capacity by 35pc.

UAE Minister of State and ADNOC Group CEO Sultan Ahmed al-Jaber speaks an energy forum in Abu Dhabi (file photo)

M o v i e R e v i e w

13 MONDAY, JANUARY 28, 2019

I, MOHAMMED IDRISH, s/o GULAM HUSSAIN, holding Indian Passport No. H1825635 dated 15/03/2009 issued at BAHRAIN having permanent residence at (full address in India) KHIRWA, LAXMANGARH, SIKAR, RAJASTHAN presently residing at FLAT NO 675, ROAD 3213, BLOCK 332, MAHOOZ, BAHRAIN will henceforth be known as (Given name) MOHAMMED IDRISH (surname) SINGH. Objection(s) if any may be forwarded to Embassy of India, P.O Box 26106, Al Seef, Kingdom of Bahrain.

CHANGE OF NAME

OASIS JUFFAIR1-SERENITY (18+) (DRAMA/THRILLER) NEW

MATTHEW MCCONAUGHEY, ANNE HATHAWAY, DIANE LANE

DAILY AT: 11.15 AM + 4.00 + 8.45 + 11.00 PMDAILY AT (VIP I): 1.00 + 5.45 + 10.30 PM

2-NADI ELREGAL EL SERI (PG-15) (ARABIC/COMEDY) NEW KARIM ABDULAZIZ, GHADA ADEL, MAJDE ALKIDDAWI

DAILY AT: 10.30 AM + 12.45 + 6.00 + 11.15 PM

3-THE KID WHO WOULD BE KING (PG) (ADVENTURE/ACTION/FANTASY) NEW

LOUIS ASHBOURNE SERKIS, PATRICK STEWART, REBECCA FERGUSON

DAILY AT: 11.45 AM + 5.15 + 10.45 PM

4-MANIKARNIKA: THE QUEEN OF JHANSI (PG-15) (DRAMA/ACTION/BIOGRAPHY) NEW

KANGANA RANAUT, DANNY DENZONGPA, SURESH OBEROI

DAILY AT: 11.00 AM + 2.00 + 5.00 + 8.00 + 11.00 PM

5-VICE (15+) (DRAMA/BIOGRAPHY) NEW CHRISTIAN BALE, AMY ADAMS, STEVE CARELL

DAILY AT: 12.30 + 5.45 + 11.00 PM

6-DRAGON BALL SUPER: BROLY (PG) (ANIMATION/ACTION/ADVENTURE/FANTASY) NEW

SEAN SCHEMMEL, CHRISTOPHER SABAT, CHRIS AYRES

DAILY AT (KIDS CINEMA): 7.00 + 11.00 PM

7-WHEELY FAST & HILARIOUS! (PG) (ANIMATION/ADVENTURE/COMEDY) NEW

DAILY AT (KIDS CINEMA): 11.00 AM + 1.00 + 3.00 PM

8-21ST NOOTTAANDU PG-13) (MALAYALAM) NEW PRANAV MOHANLAL, RACHEL DAVID, GOKUL SURESH

FROM FRIDAY 25TH: 11.00 AM + 2.00 + 5.00 + 8.00 + 11.00 PM

9-VIJAYSUPERUM POURNAMIYUM (PG-13) (MALAYALAM) NEW

ASIF ALI, AISHWARYA LAKSHMI

DAILY AT: 3.00 + 8.15 PM

10-GLASS (PG-15) (THRILLER) JAMES MCAVOY, BRUCE WILLIS, SAMUEL L. JACKSON

DAILY AT: 12.15 + 5.45 + 11.15 PM DAILY AT (VIP): 10.30 AM + 3.15 + 8.00 PM

11-THE UPSIDE (PG-15) (COMEDY/DRAMA) KEVIN HART, BRYAN CRANSTON, NICOLE KIDMAN

DAILY AT: 1.30 + 6.15 PM

12-HOW TO TRAIN YOUR DRAGON: THE HIDDEN WORLD (PG) (ANIMATION/ACTION/ADVENTURE)

CATE BLANCHETT, JONAH HILL, GERARD BUTLER

DAILY AT (KIDS CINEMA): 5.00 + 9.00 PM

13-SIMMBA (PG-15) (HINDI/ACTION/COMEDY/DRAMA/ROMANTIC)

RANVEER SINGH, AJAY DEVGN, SARA ALI KHAN

DAILY AT: 3.00 + 8.15 PM

14-URI: THE SURGICAL STRIKE (15+) (HINDI/ACTION/DRAMA)

VICKY KAUSHAL, KIRTI KULHARI, PARESH RAWAL

DAILY AT: 12.00 + 2.45 + 5.30 + 8.15 + 11.00 PM

15-VISWASAM (PG-15) (TAMIL) AJITH KUMAR, NAYANTHARA

DAILY AT: 2.15 + 7.45 PM

16-MIKHAEL (PG-15) (MALAYALAM) NIVIN PAULY, UNNI MUKAUDAN, MANJIMA MOHAN

DAILY AT: 2.45 + 8.15 PM

CITY CENTRE1-SERENITY (18+) (DRAMA/THRILLER) NEW


DAILY AT: 10.30 AM + 12.45 + 3.00 + 5.15 + 7.30 + 9.45 PM + 12.00 MN + (12.45 MN THURS/FRI)DAILY AT (VIP I): 11.45 AM + 2.00 + 4.15 + 6.30 + 8.45 + 11.00 PM

2-NADI ELREGAL EL SERI (PG-15) (ARABIC/COMEDY) NEW

KARIM ABDULAZIZ, GHADA ADEL, MAJDE ALKIDDAWI

DAILY AT: 11.15 AM + 1.30 + 3.45 + 6.00 + 8.15 + 10.30 PM + (12.45 MN THURS/FRI)



DAILY AT: 11.15 AM + 1.45 + 4.15 + 6.45 + 9.15 + 11.45 PM



DAILY AT: 11.30 AM + 2.30 + 5.30 + 8.30 + 11.30 PM


DAILY AT: 12.30 + 3.15 + 6.00 + 8.45 + 11.30 PM

6-CLOSE (PG-15) (ACTION/THRILLER) NEW NOOMI RAPACE, INDIRA VARMA, EOIN MACKEN

DAILY AT: 10.30 AM + 3.00 + 7.30 PM + 12.00 MN

7-ON THE BASIS OF SEX (PG-15) (DRAMA/BIOGRAPHY) NEW

FELICITY JONES, ARMIE HAMMER, JUSTIN THEROUX

DAILY AT: 12.30 + 5.00 + 9.30 PM

8-MARY QUEEN OF SCOTS (15+) (DRAMA/BIOGRAPHY)

SAOIRSE RONAN, MARGOT ROBBIE, JACK LOWDEN

DAILY AT: 11.00 AM + 4.00 + 9.00 PM



DAILY AT (JAPANESE): 5.00 + 9.00 PMDAILY AT (ENGLISH): 7.00 + 11.00 PM

10- WHEELY FAST & HILARIOUS! (PG) (ANIMATION/ADVENTURE/COMEDY) NEW

DAILY AT: 11.00 AM + 1.00 + 3.00 PM

11-BTS WORLD TOUR LOVE (PG) (MUSICAL/CONCERT) NEW

J-HOPE, JEONG-GUK JEON

ONLY ON SATURDAY 26TH: 11.45 AM + 2.00 + 4.15 + 6.30 + 8.45 + 11.00 PM


DAILY AT: 12.30 + 3.15 + 6.00 + 8.45 + 11.30 PM + (1.00 AM THURS/FRI)DAILY AT (IMAX 2D): 6.30 + 9.15 PM + 12.00 MN DAILY AT (VIP II): 12.00 + 2.45 + 5.30 + 8.15 + 11.00 PM


DAILY AT: 11.30 AM + 2.00 + 4.30 + 7.00 + 9.30 PM + 12.00 MN

14-AQUAMAN (PG-15) (ACTION/ADVENTURE) JASON MOMOA, AMBER HEARD, NICOLE KIDMAN

DAILY AT: 11.30 AM + 2.30 + 5.30 + 8.30 + 11.30 PM



DAILY AT: 11.15 AM + 1.30 + 3.45 + 6.00 + 8.15 + 10.30 PM DAILY AT (IMAX 3D): 11.45 AM + 2.00 + 4.15 PM

16-THE MULE (PG-15) (CRIME/DRAMA/THRILLER) CLINT EASTWOOD, BRADLEY COOPER, TAISSA FARMIGA

DAILY AT: 1.30 + 6.30 + 11.30 PM

17-JOHNNY ENGLISH STRIKES AGAIN (PG) (COMEDY/ACTION/ADVENTURE)

ROWAN ATKINSON, OLGA KURYLENKO, EMMA THOMPSON

DAILY AT: 12.00 + 2.00 + 4.00 + 6.00 + 8.00 + 10.00 PM + 12.00 MN

18-RALPH BREAKS THE INTERNET (PG) (ANIMATION/ADVENTURE/COMEDY)

JOHN C. REILLY, SARAH SILVARMAN, GAL GADOT

DAILY AT: 11.30 AM + 1.45 + 4.00 + 6.15 + 8.30 + 10.45 PM

19-SPIDER MAN INTO THE SPIDER VERSE (PG) (ANIMATION/ACTION/ADVENTURE)

HAILEE STEINFELD, NICOLAS CAGE, MAHERSHALA ALI

DAILY AT: 11.30 AM + 4.15 + 9.00 PM

20-MARY POPPINS RETURNS (G) (ADVENTURE/MUSICAL/FAMILY)

EMILY BLUNT, LIN-MANUEL MIRANDA, BEN WHISHAW

DAILY AT: 1.45 + 6.30 + 11.15 PM

SEEF (II)1-SERENITY (18+) (DRAMA/THRILLER) NEW


DAILY AT: 12.30 + 2.45 + 5.00 + 7.15 + 9.30 PM + 11.45 PM + (1.00 AM THURS/FRI)



DAILY AT: (12.45 MN THURS/FRI)



DAILY AT: 10.45 AM + 1.15 + 3.45 + 6.15 + 8.45 + 11.15 PM


DAILY AT: 11.30 AM + 5.15 + 11.00 PM

5-CLOSE (PG-15) (ACTION/THRILLER) NEW NOOMI RAPACE, INDIRA VARMA, EOIN MACKEN

DAILY AT: 1.00 + 5.30 + 10.00 PM

6-ON THE BASIS OF SEX (PG-15) (DRAMA/BIOGRAPHY) NEW

FELICITY JONES, ARMIE HAMMER, JUSTIN THEROUX

DAILY AT: 10.30 AM + 3.00 + 7.30 PM + 12.00 MN

7-MARY QUEEN OF SCOTS (15+) (DRAMA/BIOGRAPHY) NEW

SAOIRSE RONAN, MARGOT ROBBIE, JACK LOWDEN

DAILY AT: 12.15 + 4.45 + 9.15 PM



DAILY AT (ENGLISH): 4.45 + 8.45 PMDAILY AT(JAPANESE): 6.45 + 10.45 PM

9- WHEELY FAST & HILARIOUS! (PG) (ANIMATION/ADVENTURE/COMEDY) NEW

DAILY AT: 10.45 AM + 12.45 + 2.45 PM


DAILY AT: 12.00 + 2.45 + 5.30 + 8.15 + 11.00 PM



ONLY ON SATURDAY 26TH: 12.15 + 2.30 + 4.45 + 7.00 + 9.15 + 11.30 PM


DAILY AT: 11.15 AM + 1.45 + 4.15 + 6.45 + 9.15 + 11.45 PM



DAILY AT: 11.30 AM + 1.45 + 4.00 + 6.15 + 8.30 + 10.45 PM

14-AQUAMAN (PG-15) (ACTION/ADVENTURE) JASON MOMOA, AMBER HEARD, NICOLE KIDMAN

DAILY AT: 12.00 + 2.45 + 5.30 + 8.15 + 11.00 PM

15-SA’AT REDA (PG-15) (ARABIC/COMEDY) HALA FAKHER, AHMED FATHY, DINA FOUAD

DAILY AT: 2.45 + 7.15 + 11.45 PM

16-MIKHAEL (PG-15) (MALAYALAM) NIVIN PAULY, UNNI MUKAUDAN, MANJIMA MOHAN

DAILY AT: 2.15 + 8.00 PM

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Serenity is a 2019 American neo-noir thriller film written, produced

and directed by Steven Knight. The film stars Matthew McConaughey, Anne Hathaway, Diane Lane, Jason Clarke, Djimon Hounsou, and Jere-my Strong, and follows a fishing boat captain who is approached by his ex-wife to murder her abusive new husband.

On review aggregator Rotten Toma-toes, the film holds an approval rating of 22% based on 93 reviews, and an aver-age rating of 4/10. The website’s critical consensus reads, “A high-concept mys-tery with a twist, Serenity isn’t what it appears to be at first -- unfortunately, it’s also not anywhere near as clever or entertaining as it thinks.” On Metacritic, the film has a weighted average score of 38 out of 100, based on 33 critics, indi-cating “generally unfavorable reviews”.

Audiences polled by CinemaScore gave the film an average grade of “D+” on an A+ to F scale, while those at PostTrak gave it an “awful” overall positive score of 56% and an “atrocious” definite rec-ommend rating of 34%.

Christy Lemire of RogerEbert.com gave the film one star, calling it “terri-ble and insane” and writing: “Similar to Collateral Beauty and The Book of Henry – recent dramas with esteemed casts that went off the rails in enjoyably awful ways – Serenity is the kind of bonkers movie that truly must be seen to be believed”. The Hollywood Report-er’s Todd McCarthy wrote, “Actors can usually have fun with such melodra-matic roles, but Knight’s stratagems serve to straitjacket the cast more than liberate it to diminishing returns as the climax remains an elusive vision on the horizon.”

Matthew McConaughey and Anne Hathaway are sunk in ‘Serenity’

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‘Wonder Woman 3’ will be a contemporary story: Patty JenkinsLos Angeles

Filmmaker Patty Jenkins says she will not set the third instalment of

“Wonder Woman” in the past.Wonder Woman, the char-

acter, has already fought in World War I, and in next year’s “Wonder Woman 1984”, she will head to the 1980s.

Jenkins has an idea where a third film could go after that, and in a departure for the series, she does not expect “Wonder Woman 3” to be set in the past, according to holly-woodreporter.com.

“I’m not set, but I’m not dying another period piece,” Jenkins told The Hollywood Reporter at the Sundance Film Festival.

Referring to a piece by the publication suggesting that “Wonder Woman 3” should go to the future, Jenkins said: “It’s definitely one of the things we talked about. I’m not planning to put it in the past again, because where are you going to go? You have to go forward. It’s definitely a contemporary story. That’s all I can say.

Cooper surprises

fans at Gaga’s showLos Angeles

Actor-director Bradley Cooper made a surprise appearance at Lady Ga-

gas show here.The crowd at Las Vegas’ Park

Theater was treated to Cooper’s surprise appearance during Ga-ga’s finale performance of the song “Shallow”, according to hollywoodreporter.com.

The song, which was nomi-

nated for an Academy Award earlier this week, is the closing number of the “Enigma” show, the residency that kicked off in December last year.

Attendees had no idea a duet was in store when the actor ap-peared on stage. The two em-braced and he followed Gaga to the piano.

“I even got you in ears,” Gaga told Cooper of the monitors used during live stage perfor-mances.

“I can’t hear anything,” he cracked.

Following the per-formance, as each of Gaga’s dancers took

a bow and introduced themselves, Cooper shy-

ly joined in and said: “Bradley, thank

you.” He then p i t c h e d h i s baseball cap into the crowd.

“Shallow ” is slated to be performed at the Oscars in February, reported va-riety.com.

Kate Beckinsale hospitalisedLos Angeles

Ac t r e s s K a t e

Beckinsale h a s b e e n hospitalised after suffering a ruptured ovar-ian cyst.

The actress, 45, took to social media on Saturday night to share Instagram posts from inside a hospital, where she was being treat-ed, reports dailymail.co.uk.

“Turns out a ruptured ovarian cyst really hurts and morphine makes me cry,” she wrote, adding that she was “so thankful to every-one who looked after me” with hashtag #wobbly.

The post included two photographs, one of the ac-tress with a nasal breathing tube in, and another one of her resting in a hospital bed. The selfie showed the ac-tress with smudged mascara on her cheeks while she still sported gold eye shadow.

Chris Pratt wants lots of kidsLos Angeles

Actor Chris Pratt says he wants a lot of chil-dren.

He recently announced his engagement to girlfriend Katherine Schwarzenegger. And the “Guardians Of The Galaxy” star said that he can see lots of children on the horizon once the couple ex-change vows, reports eton-line.com.

“The future? Oh. Lots of kids,” Pratt said, adding: “Maybe less time spent working, more time spent enjoying life.”

“I always want to be that guy that works to live, not lives to work. I think (I want to spend) just a lot of time at the farm and a lot of time catching a lot of fish and see-ing lots of sunsets,” he added.

Pratt announced his en-gagement to Schwarzeneg-ger on January 13, six months after they were first spotted together on a date.

Kanye West sues Universal, EMILos Angeles

Rapper Kanye West has sued Universal and EMI

over his record and publish-ing contracts. In a free-form rant posted online in October 2018, West said he had tried to purchase his publishing catalog from Sony/ATV Mu-sic and they declined.

“I have the money to buy (back) my publishing,” West said in the video, and add-ed: “And they told me that I couldn’t buy my publishing . It’s like the control.”

While the terms of his contract are not public, mu-sic publishing deals typically do not allow artistes to sim-ply buy back their publishing whenever they want.

Naomi Watts ‘very excited’ about

GoT prequelLos Angeles

Ac t r e s s N a o m i Watts is guard-

ed about the plot of the “Game of Thrones” prequel, but says it is going to be very ex-citing.

Watts, who was at the Sundance Film Fes-tival for her film “Luce”, stayed mum on all things “Game of Thrones”, reported variety.com.

“Do you really think I’m go-ing to tell you that? Are you trying to catch me off guard,”

Watts asked with a laugh.Nevertheless, expressing joy about being a part of

it, she said: “It’s a fan-tastic world, isn’t

i t ? I think there’s so

many bril-

liant elements to that series that make it very exciting, very

appealing. I don’t want to dig myself into a big hole here... All I want to say is

it’s very exciting I’ll say that again and again

and again - and noth-ing else.”

Asked if she knows how the flagship

“Game of Thrones” will end, she laughed

again, and said: “Stop please! I can’t. I just can’t.”

Then, her “Luce” co-star, Oc-tavia Spencer, chimed in from off-camera, joking that she wanted to get some spoilers: “I’m going to talk to her about this off screen!”

In “Game of Thrones” fash-ion, HBO has kept the exact de-tails of the prequel and Watts’ character under wraps, though the network has described her character as “a charismatic so-cialite hiding a dark secret”.

Los Angeles

Actress Margot Robbie is thankful she has such a supportive husband

Tom Ackerley because she has a “crisis of faith” every time she’s about to start a new job.

“The week leading up to the first day of playing every char-acter I’ve ever played, I have a huge crisis of faith and convince myself that I’m a terrible actor and I’m not actually any good at this job and I’ll never be able to pull it off,” she told Britain’s OK! magazine.

She added: “And my husband’s like, ‘OK, you know you say this every single time, you know this happens the week leading up.’

He’s a patient man!”The “I, Tonya” actress has a

production company, Lucky-Chap Entertainment, with her 29-year-old spouse and she thinks working togeth-er has made things much more “fun”, reports fema-lefirst.co.uk.

She said: “I’m a great advocate of doing busi-ness with your partner. Being married is actu-ally the most fun ever, life got way more fun somehow.”

The 28-year-old ac-tress and her spouse have a pact never to spend longer than three weeks apart, even if they have to go to great lengths to see one an-other.

Kylie wants diamonds for

Valentine’s DayLOS Angeles

Reality TV star Kylie Jenner wants diamonds for Val-entine’s Day, as she claims

they are better than pearls.In a video posted on her

channel in which she answered Valentine’s Day themed quick fire questions, Kylie was asked whether she would prefer to receive a teddy bear or jew-ellery, to which she said: “I mean, jewellery, obviously, right?”

And then when asked if that jewellery would be made of diamonds or pearls, she replied “diamonds” were her preferred pre-cious stone, reports fe-malefirst.co.uk.

W h e n i t c o m e s to the perfect Val-entine’s Day date night, the “Keep-ing Up with the K a r d a s h i a n s ” star would prefer to go out for din-ner than watch a movie, al-though she “really loves both”.

Asked to pick one, she said: “I don’t know, ‘cause I really love both, but maybe since it’s Valentine’s Day, let’s go out for a nice dinner or something.”

MJ’s nephew slams ‘Leaving Neverland’, calling it one-sided

Los Angeles

Late American singer Mi-chael Jackson’s family is speaking out against the

recently released documentary ‘Leaving Neverland’ which pre-miered at the Sundance Film Festival on Friday.

The film which will air on HBO this spring focuses on claims from James Safechuck and

Wade Robson, both of whom shared that they endured years of Jackson’s inappro-priate behaviour, sexual abuse and manipulation, re-ported People.

Since the film’s premiere at the Sundance Film Festival,

Jackson’s nephew Taj Jackson has vehemently denounced the alle-gations made in the documentary.

Margot Robbie’s

work panic

Kylie

Robbie

Pakistan bowlers force series decider after Sarfraz ban

Usman Shinwari’s four-for helped Pakistan draw levelAFP | Johannesburg

Pakistan shrugged off a four-match suspension imposed

on captain Sarfraz Ahmed with a crushing eight-wicket win over South Africa in the fourth one-day international at the Wander-ers Stadium yesterday.

The result levelled the five-match series at 2-2. The decid-ing match will be in Cape Town on Wednesday.

Pakistan’s bowlers set up the win, bowling out South Africa for 164. Imam-ul-Haq made 71 before playing a loose shot when the scores were level as Pakistan cruised to victory with 18.3 overs to spare.

Stand-in captain Shoaib Malik said at the after-match presenta-tion that Pakistan only found out after they arrived at the ground that Sarfraz had been banned under the International Cricket Council’s anti-racism code for remarks aimed at South Afri-

can all-rounder Andile Phehluk-wayo during the second match in Durban on Tuesday.

The ban had still not been an-nounced by the ICC when Malik walked out for the toss.

Malik handled his bowlers and fielders astutely and South Africa were kept under pressure almost from the time he won the toss and sent them in on a pitch which had early life.

“It is a great honour to repre-sent your country, as a player or a captain,” said Malik. “When the responsibility comes you should make sure to give it your best shot.”

Shaheen Shah Afridi made two early strikes before Hashim Amla (59) and captain Faf du Plessis (57) made half-centu-ries and put on 101 for the third wicket.

Malik’s use of spinners Imad Wasim and Shadab Khan kept the scoring rate in check and both batsmen fell to the slow men before the fast bowlers re-turned.

Shinwari dismantles lower order

Mohammad Amir dismissed the dangerous David Miller be-fore fellow left-arm fast bowler

Usman Shinwari claimed four wickets in six balls. He finished with four for 35 and was named man of the match.

Shinwari had Rassie van der Dussen caught behind for 18 and bowled Dale Steyn for a two-ball duck. Kagiso Rabada was caught behind first ball and Beuran Hendricks survived an appeal for leg before wicket with what Shinwari hoped was the hat-trick ball.

The ball was crashing into the stumps but Shinwari acknowl-edged that umpire Bongani Jele had made the right decision be-cause there was a faint inside

edge.Du Plessis gave credit to Pa-

kistan’s bowlers but said it was not a typical Wanderers pitch. “The ball spun quite a lot and was sticking in the surface,” he said. “But you have to adapt. They have fantastic bowlers and they are putting pressure on us.”

Malik deflected praise for the way the Pakistan players had shown energy and commitment in the field. “Not just today, in the previous games as well,” he said. “You need a bit of luck to get across the line. We are all professionals and today our bowling attack did the job and they took wickets.”


South Africa H. Amla b Imad Wasim 59Q. de Kock lbw b Shaheen Afridi 0R. Hendricks c M b S Shah Afridi 2F. du Plessis c M Hafeez b S Khan 57H. van der Dussen c M Rizwan b Usman Shinwari 18D. Miller lbw b Mohammad Amir 4A. Phehlukwayo c Azam b Shinwari 11D. Steyn b Usman Shinwari 0K. Rabada c M Rizwan b Shinwari 0B. Hendricks not out 2Imran Tahir c Wasim b S Khan 5Extras (lb1, w5) 6Total (41 overs) 164PakistanUl-Haq c De Kock b Phehlukwayo 71F Zaman c Van der Dussen b Tahir 44Babar Azam not out 41Mohammad Rizwan not out 4Extras (lb1, w7) 8Total (2 wkts, 31.3 overs) 168

You need a bit of luck to get across

the line. We are all professionals and today our bowling

attack did the job and they took

wicketsSHOAIB MALIK

Pakistan’s Fakhar Zaman and Imam-ul-Haq complete a run

Racing Bahrain pip Go Bahrain in six-hour karting thriller at BIKC

TDT | Manama

Racing Bahrain clinched the narrowest of victories in a

gripping second round of the 2018/2019 Bahrain Karting En-duro Championship (BKEC), hosted by Bahrain International Karting Circuit (BIKC) over the weekend.

Only 0.089 seconds separated the victors from runners-up Go Bahrain at the end of a gruelling six hours of action.

After starting from pole, the trio of Mohammed Mattar, Khalid Alsaei and Abdulla Bu-hindi triumphed in their 390cc Sodi GT4R kart, leading four of the 11 competing teams with a total of 284 laps.

Rashed Almuammari, Raed Raffii and Khaled Abdulla steered Go Bahrain to second

overall. Almuammari registered the race’s fastest lap of one minute 11.260 seconds. Behind them were the trio of Ali Baslar, Khalid Alwazzan and Majed Alkooheji racing for Ithmaar Bank. They finished 20.072 sec-onds from the winners, com-pleting the overall podium.

Aside from finishing in first place overall, Racing Bah-rain also claimed the win in the race’s Pro category. Bap-co Sadeem comprising Osama Albuflasa, Faisal Alshafei and Abdulla Althawadi were second in class; while Cool Runnings featuring Syed Khurshid Hu-sain, Syed Salman Husain, Mar-lon Chong and Kinky Carter finished third.

Go Bahrain added to their overall runner-up finish by tak-ing the victory amongst teams

in the Nations category. They were followed in class by the Racing Bahrain Jr team of Ab-bas Sarhan, Ahmed Abduljalil, Khalifa Alyaqoobi and Moham-med Ameen; while Bapco Lu-bricants with Mohammed Jalal, Talal Beshara and Mohammed Baharna were third.

Ithmaar were third overall but also first in the Corporate class. Bapco Motorsports of Abdulaziz Albufalah, Khalifa Alzayani and Essa Mahmood were second; and Redline Rac-ing with Paul Morris, Sultan Alkhayat and Hussein Lala were third.

At the end of the event, BIC Circuit Operations Director Fayez Ramzy Fayez awarded trophies to winning teams and drivers in presence of other of-ficials, fans and teams.

Action from Bahrain Karting Enduro Championship

Waqas Pak rally past Fog PrintingTDT | Manama

Waqas Pak beat Fog Print-ing by 87 runs in CBA Di-

vision C 25 Overs League.Fog won the toss and elected

to bowl first. Ehtisham scored a brilliant half century in 25 balls and Mudabbr’s 49 runs helped them to score 207 runs at the end of 25 overs. Chasing the target, Waqas bowlers took wickets in regular intervals. Jayakumar (36) became the top scorer for FOG. Basit and Mud-abar took two wickets each for Waqas and they won the math by 87 runs.

Brief Score: Waqas Pak 207/7 in 25 overs (Ehtisham 50, Mu-dabar 49, Ahmed 35) beat Fog Printing 120/7 (Jayakumar 36,

Mudabar 2/9) by 87 runsOther Match ScoresSmile Mart 138/10 (Zeeshan

36, Majeed 2/22) beat Masters CC 128/8 (Akhil 25, Mujtaba 2/10) by 10 runs

Mudabbar CC 180/6 (Nasir 45, Ehsan 35, Jijo 2/27) beat Unique 85/10 (Askar 10, Na-deem 3/25) by 95 run

ACL Red Mountain 179/10 (Ian 42, Ibrahim 29, Mubashir 3/36) beat Bassali Tigers 103/10

(Numair 41, Imran 4/10) by 76 runs

Central Café 164/4 in 25 overs (Danny 39, Ganesh 37, Vineesh 2/33) beat Alyusuf Ex-change 145/8 (Suresh 38, Rijo 35, Ganesh 4/19, Sachin 3/34) by 19 runs

Rebel II 145/2 in 24.2 (Ajith 36, Muzammil 34, Felix 31) beat bnl Titans 144/6 (Ibrar 47, Jishad 40, Ajith 2/13) by 8 wickets

Winners and officials during the closing ceremony of 7th EK Kanoo Juniors Open Tennis Championship organized by Bahrain Tennis Club held on Saturday. Omar Bader was winner in Unisex Under 6-8 category while Hashim Al Tobli grabbed the title in the Unisex Under 9-10 category. Under 14 boys singles title was claimed by Anshuman Sonawane while Special trophy for the best talent player was bagged by Muneera Bin Hindi

Obaid - Asgharali Nafees - Azeem CC Shakeel Butt

Osaka embraces pressure, eyes ‘Naomi Slam’

AFP | Melbourne

Newly-minted Austral-ian Open champion

Naomi Osaka said she was not satisfied with back-to-back majors yesterday and hoped to complete a “Naomi Slam” after her success at Melbourne Park.

The bubbly 21-year-old laughed off suggestions her meteoric rise had put her under pressure, saying she was relishing the big time after rising from 72 in the world to number one in the past 12 months.

Japan’s Osaka becomes the first Asian to hold the top ranking after down-ing Czech Petra Kvitova in a tight final on Satur-day night and adding the Australian crown to the US Open title she won last year.

“This feels more like I’m used to it now,” she told re-porters as she posed with the trophy at a Melbourne beach yesterday,

“I know that sounds a bit strange because this is only the second one but the first time I won it definitely felt a bit more unreal.”

Japan’s Naomi Osaka celebrates her victory against Czech Republic’s Petra Kvitova

Messi shines as Barca sweep past GironaAFP | Girona

Lionel Messi scored a sub-lime goal to make up for the

missed trip to Miami as Barcelo-na beat Girona 2-0 yesterday to go five points clear again at the top of La Liga.

This was the fixture intended to be played in the United States but any advantage Girona main-tained by keeping it at their own Montilivi ground was cancelled out by Messi, and another ruth-less Barca display.

Messi’s brilliant finish in the second half, his ninth goal in as many games, came after Nelson Semedo had given the visitors an early lead, before Bernardo Espinosa’s red card consigned Girona to 39 minutes with 10 men.

The home fans were left in-censed by that decision, as well as Messi’s reaction they believed had caused it, but the Argen-tinian’s goal offered the perfect riposte.

Barcelona restore their hefty advantage over Atletico Madrid, who had cut the gap to two by beating Getafe on Saturday.

Outside the stadium before kick-off, propped up on a rail-ing, was a sign with a scrawled message that read: “Miami, here

we come”.La Liga had hoped to drag this

game there to promote Spanish football and the clubs had sup-ported the idea, with various perks dangled in front of fans, including free flights and tick-ets, not to mention the chance to be part of something “historic”.

Girona’s home, howev-er, is here and when opposi-tion proved too great, neither team wanted to appear disap-pointed. “I always felt it was a distant option,” Barca coach Ernesto Valverde said on Saturday.


English FA CupCrystal Palace 2 - 0 Tottenham Hotspur

Spanish La LigaGirona 0 2 Barcelona

German BundesligaBayern Munich 2 1 VfB Stuttgart

Italian Serie AChievo 3 4 Fiorentina

Atalanta 3 3 Roma

Torino 1 0 Inter Milan*Scores as of closing

Djokovic wins seventh OpenNovak Djokovic outclasses Rafael Nadal to win his seventh Australian Open title

• Top seed thrashes his great rival in straight sets to become the tournament’s most successful male player

AFP | Melbourne

An imperious Novak Djok-ovic won a record mag-nificent seventh Austral-

ian Open title by routing Rafael Nadal 6-3, 6-2, 6-3 yesterday with a display of flawless tennis.

The Serbian world number one dominated the Spanish sec-ond seed to win his 15th Grand Slam title in just 2hr 4min on Rod Laver Arena.

It put Djokovic, 31, out on his own ahead of Roger Federer and Roy Emerson, who both won six Australian Open men’s singles titles.

Djokovic dropped to his knees and kissed the ground after van-quishing his greatest rival.

“I’m just trying to contem-plate on the journey in the last 12 months,” said an emotional Djokovic, pausing for breath to compose himself and not be-come tearful.

“I had the surgery exactly 12 months ago,” he added, referring to an elbow operation that saw him slump out of the world’s top 20 before bouncing back to win Wimbledon and the US Open.

“To be standing now here in front of you today and managing to win this title and three out of four Slams, this is amazing. I am speechless.”

The pair’s only previous fi-nal in Australia, in 2012, devel-oped into a record-breaking 5hr 53min slugfest -- the longest in Grand Slam history.

A repeat of that epic never materialised with Nadal unchar-

acteristically nervous at the start and Djokovic taking an imme-diate advantage that he would never relinquish.

‘Fighting spirit’ “Even if tonight was not my

best day of course I had someone that played a lot better than me tonight,” said Nadal.

“I have been going through tough moments in the last year. I was not able to play until the first round here. Even if tonight was not my night it’s so impor-tant for me to be where I am coming back from injury.”

Djokovic noted that the duo had both endured injury-rav-aged 2018 campaigns.

“Obviously a tough match to-

night, but ... you came back from an injury that took you out from the tour since September last

year,” Djokovic said of Nadal.“You’re showing to me and

to all your other colleagues and many young tennis players

around the world what is defi-nition of the fighting spirit and resilience.”

The Spaniard had not had his service broken since the third set of his first round match but that streak ended in a flash as the Serb came sprinting out of the blocks.

Total control Djokovic was in total control

on his own delivery and won his first four service games without conceding a single point, even inducing Nadal to miss a fore-hand completely on the way to grabbing the set in 36 minutes.

The second set followed a sim-ilar pattern, with Djokovic rac-ing through games on his own

serve, while Nadal struggled to hold.

The pressure told in the fifth game and Djokovic broke again when Nadal hit a lob volley long after an exchange at the net.

The on-song Serb was so fired up he broke Nadal again to go to 5-2 before serving out for a two-set lead with three aces in a row with just 1hr 16min on the clock.

The statistics were as telling as the scoreline: Djokovic had served eight aces to Nadal’s one and made just four unforced errors while the Spaniard had coughed up 20.

When Djokovic broke again in the third game of the third set it was just a matter of how quickly he would finish off Nadal.

The end was swift, as Djokovic withstood one break point at 3-2 before administering the last rites in a flurry of winners off both wings. Victory extended his win-loss record against Nadal to 28-25 and squared the Grand Slam final count between the pair at 4-4.

Djokovic has now completed a hat-trick of Slams following his wins at Wimbledon and the US Open. He will go to Paris in May for French Open seeking to be-come the only man in the Open Era to win all four majors twice.

France’s Herbert, Mahut win Australian Open doubles crown

AFP | Melbourne

Fifth seeded Pierre-Hu-gues Herbert and Nico-

las Mahut won their fourth Grand Slam men’s doubles ti-tle when they were crowned Australian Open champions yesterday in a tough final 6-4, 7-6 (7/1).

The French pair overcame Finland’s Henri Kontinen and Australia’s John Peers, seeded 12, to become one of an elite group of just eight to claim doubles titles at all four of the major tournaments.

“Nicolas, our first tourna-ment together was here in 2015 and we went all the way to the final,” said Herbert.

“Now we have won all of the Grand Slams. Thanks for sharing the court with me. It has been fun.”

They are the second all-French pair to win in Aus-tralia after Michael Llodra and Fabrice Santoro, who won back-to-back titles in 2003-04.

Novak Djokovic kisses the Norman Brookes Challenge Cup for the seventh time in his career

15grand slam titles have

been won by Novak Djokovic in his career

Lionel Messi of Barcelona scores his team’s second goal past Yassine Bounou of Girona as Pedro Alcala of Girona reacts

Italian sprint king Viviani wins Cadel Evans road raceAFP | Geelong, Australia

Italian sprint king Elia Vivi-ani held off Australian rival

Caleb Ewan and South African Daryl Impey in a tight finish to win the Cadel Evans Great Ocean Road race yesterday.

Viviani was able to stay with the lead group over four tough climbs and emerge from the slipstream of Dece-uninck-Quick Step teammate Michael Morkov in the final metres to pip Ewan at the post.

Lotto Soudal rider Ewan was unlucky to find himself boxed in at the start of the final sprint

and while he finished fast, he ran out of road to overhaul Viviani who finished in 3hr 54min 35sec.

The 163 kilometre (101 mile) race, which starts and finishes in Geelong, outside Melbourne, and takes in the world-renowned Great Ocean Road, has seen a different na-tionality win each year since its inception in 2015.

Viviani came to Australia on a mission after being beaten into second last year by Jay McCarthy, who could only fin-ish eighth this time, and he was over the moon.

Deceuninck Quick-Step rider Elia Viviani of Italy (R) crosses the finish line to win the men’s event

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